Now go back with me to Philemon. Philemon. This is the story, if you did
not catch it while reading it, the story of a runaway slave
who comes home to stay. The story of a worthless, he's
a slave, ungrateful, rebellious, he left in rebellion, a sinful,
man, young man, returning home. And he does it, the reason he
comes home, because God brought him home. Story of a kind and gracious
master to this young man named Philemon. Look at verse 1. Philemon
is whom Paul is writing to. Paul prisoner of Jesus Christ
and Timothy, our brother, unto Philemon, dearly beloved, fellow
laborer." Verse 3, he says, grace to you and peace from God our
Father, and he thanks God. Verse 4, he makes mention of
praise for Philemon always. He says, hearing of thy love,
verse 5, your faith toward the Lord Jesus, toward all the saints.
This man was a loving, gracious, kind, Compassionate, caring,
generous man, master. In verse 6, he said, the communication
of your faith is acknowledged in every good thing you do. In
other words, this man was very good to everyone. He was a fine
man. The Lord, through Paul's preaching,
saved this man, Colossae. Paul preached at Colossae. He
wrote the book of Colossae, which we may look at Wednesday night.
Colossians wrote this about the same time. And Philemon was,
he heard Paul preach and the Lord saved him. Made him a merciful
and gracious and kind man. Made him love the gospel and
love those that preach the gospel like Paul. In verse 7 he says,
have great joy and consolation in your love. The bowels of the
saints are refreshed by thee, brother. He's a good man, isn't
he? By the grace of God, he's a good
man, Philemon is. He's a merciful man. He's a kind
man. The grace of God made him gracious.
Let's give glory where it's due. Let's give credit where it's
due. The mercy of God made him merciful. The love of God made
him a loving man. Sovereign power of God made him
a believer, made him a worshiper, a supporter of the gospel. Verse
2, There was a church in his house.
He was having worship services in his house. He heard Paul preach,
and the Lord saved him, and like Cornelius, and like Lydia, and
so many others, he loved to hear the gospel, and so he began to
meet in his house with anyone that wanted to hear the gospel. And he had a man named Epiphas
preach, whom the Lord saved there too. Epiphas became the preacher
there. Paul wrote about him. And this
man named Philemon had the church in his house, and he wanted to
hear the gospel. He wanted everyone to hear the
gospel. He had all of his family, he had his wife, he had his children
under the sound of the gospel that saved his soul, that he
loved under the sound of the gospel. He had his servants,
and he had this young man named Onesimus. Sit there, every service,
to hear this gospel. He wanted this young man to know
the Lord that he knew. He wanted this young man to hear
and believe the gospel that he heard and believed and saved
his soul and he loved so dearly. And he had this young man named
Onesimus there. So this is a story of a kind
and a gracious master. He's a great man. He's a loving
man. He's a kind man. He's a merciful
man. He's a generous man. He's a wealthy
man. A man of means. He had servants.
All right, this is a picture of God, our benefactor, God, our kind and gracious master,
our merciful, kind, and gracious God. His tender mercies are over
all His work. Everyone receives from His hands. The rain falls on the just and
the unjust. God is merciful and gracious
and kind and compassionate to all, over all His Word. All men
and women, everybody in here is a recipient of God's mercy
and God's grace and God's kindness. I didn't say love. We'll find
out in a minute. If you love this message, we'll
find out if God loves you. Nevertheless, God has been very
kind to all of us, hasn't He? Very kind. What do we have we
have not received? Not a person in here can take
credit for anything. So this man was a kind, gracious,
and merciful master. And he had this unprofitable
servant named Onesimus. Look at it, verses 10 and 11. Paul is writing to Philemon,
writing this letter, beseeching him on behalf of this slave that
he had named Onesimus. Verse 10, I beseech thee for
my son. Paul calls him his son. This young man named Onesimus
ran away from home. He ran away from Philemon. Stole
money. Stole from the hand of his gracious
master. and ran away in rebellion. But God saved him through the
preaching of Paul the Apostle. We're going to look at that in
a moment. And Paul loved him as a son. And he's writing this
letter on behalf of this runaway slave named Onesimus to Philemon. He said, he's my son. I've begotten
him in my bonds. Verse 11, in time past he was
unprofitable to you, but now he's profitable to thee and to
me. What a picture this is, what
a type this is of the intercession of our Lord Jesus Christ. John
17 is the high priestly prayer of the Lord Jesus Christ in which
he prays not for the world, but for those which thou, God had
given him. He said, they're mine and thine
are mine. He prays for us. He prays for
His disciples, those given to Him of the Father. But they weren't
good people that Christ came to save. They weren't righteous
people that Christ came to save, that God gave to Him. They were
rebels. Ask Simon Peter, he'll tell you.
Ask the thief on the cross, he'll tell you. Ask Mary Magdalene,
she'll tell you. Ask me, I'll tell you. Unprofitable. But now, Paul says, they're profitable
to thee and to me, because God made him profitable. God made
him to be something that he wasn't, like in salvation. Onesimus,
now, his name means profitable. Did you know that? His name means
profitable. Isn't that irony? But that's
by design. That's God's will and God's Word,
God's wisdom. in this. Man was created profitable,
wasn't he? Man was created in the image
of God, for the glory of God. Adam, for a time, Eve, for a
while, gave glory to God, was profitable for God's glory, but
it didn't last long, did it? He that was profitable became
unprofitable. As I quoted earlier, altogether
unprofitable. I'm totally depraved. Not a doctrine,
it's just facts. So, Onesimus. Now back then,
slaves, this was a Gentile slave. This was a poor, uneducated,
ignorant, and I'm not implying that people without education
are ignorant per se. Lots of times an old country
fellow with very little education, eighth grade education, can have
more good sense than a man who's got 58 as many degrees as the
thermometer. Your husband was one, wasn't he? Good common sense,
which most people don't seem to have, which education seems
to take out of people's heads. Not implying that at all, but
the fact of the matter is he was poor, he was uneducated,
he's ignorant, he was a slave. He's not worth anything in and
of himself. He can't do anything for anybody.
He doesn't have anything. He has no value. He has no ability. He has no means. He's unprofitable. What does this great man need
with this man? I'm sure that Philemon had to teach him everything. I'm sure that Philemon had to
give him everything. He did. Philemon dressed him. Philemon fed him. Philemon taught
him. Philemon did it all for him.
Anything he had, he owed to Philemon. And what did he do? He said, I've got to get out
of here. I'm tired of this bondage. If he'd been dead, if Hylemon
hadn't chosen him and made a servant of him, this boy had probably
been dead somewhere. He'd have killed himself. And
he tried his best to do it anyway. Onesimus is sitting there hearing
the gospel preached and he's plotting his escape. He can't
wait to get out. He's waiting for a chance to
leave. He said, just as soon as I can, I'm getting out of
here. I'm so tired of hearing all this about God. Are you listening? This is a true story. This is
my story. I can really tell this with feeling,
because this is me. Is this you? He sat there waiting,
plotting his escape, waiting for a chance to leave. He's miserable
in this place. His master made him sit and listen
to this. He thought his master was cruel.
He thought his master was being cruel, making him sit and
listen to this gospel about God. He thought it was cruel bondage.
He thought, as soon as I can, I'm getting out of here. No, man. He's unprofitable. But I tell you what he is. He's
an object. This man's an object of God's
sovereign, electing love, mercy, and grace. That's what he is.
This is exactly whom the Lord chose, and this is exactly who
the Lord saved. We say much about God's sovereign,
electing love, and mercy, and grace, don't we? We say it all
the time. Somebody may be saying, there he goes again. That's right. I'm going to say it until the
day I die. Electing love has been my theme and shall be until
I die. It's my story, and it's every
sinner that's saved by grace, it's their story. Because it's to the praise of
the glory of His grace, that's what this salvation is. That
chose to save such unprofitable slaves. That chose to save unprofitable
sinners, such as we are. If a person doesn't like this,
he must not be a sinner. And we'll ask Onesimus a little
bit. We want to ask Onesimus what he thinks about Sovereign
Elect and Gray. You're going to hear what he says. All right, Onesimus is cared
for, he's provided for, he's preached to. The best thing that
could happen to him, him sit there and listen to this gospel.
And he thinks it's cruel and unusual punishment. You're not
going to be saved without it. And he says, I'm getting out
of here just as soon as I can. I'm going to get some money.
I don't have anything. I'm going to get some money. I'm going
to steal some money. And I'm going to go as far away as I
can get. I'm going to go to Rome. That's
where it's happening. The big city lights. It's happened. It's happened. I'm going to go
to Rome. That's where it's at. That's the place where I'll make
something of myself. I'll be somebody. I'm tired of
being a nobody. I'll be somebody. I'll be rich and famous. I'll
be my own man. And if not for the grace of God,
Philemon, you'll be dead in the gutter. So he steals away. He steals
some money and he steals away and he gets as far away as he
can. A thousand miles. Rome is a thousand miles from
Colossae. He's a far off. And he ends up in Rome. I know
where he ended up. Anybody who knows about a runaway,
anybody who knows about a boy running off from home and where
he goes, I can tell you what he was into. I can tell you who
he was with. I can tell you what he was doing.
And it wasn't good. Ain't none of it good. Our Lord
one time talked about the shepherd leaving the ninety and the nine
to seek one lost One lost sheep, because our Lord said, none of
my sheep will be lost. And He goes after that one lost
sheep. And the Scripture says, until
he find it. That sheep's not looking for
Him. He's looking for it. And it says, until he find it. Now, until he find it, what has
the sheep gotten into? I'll tell you what he's gotten
into. Gotten in the hands of a wolf,
he's gotten in the hands of a bear, a lion, like that lamb of David's,
about to fall off a cliff in the dark, in the gutter. I know what he got into. I know
where he is. Now this is not the story of
a good boy gone bad, this is the story of a bad boy gone worse. It is not good, no not one. This
salvation is not for good people. It's for unworthy people. This
is an unprofitable, he is unprofitable. Who needs him? Who needs him? What good is he to anybody? The
only good that this man can do at this point is praise and honor
and glory that God, in sovereign mercy and grace, went to get
him. What's his hope? What's his hope? Here's the hope of this center.
Here's the hope of every center. Hail, sovereign love that first
began the scheme to rescue fallen man. Hail, matchless, free, eternal
grace that gave my soul a hiding place against the God who ruled
the sky. I fought with hands uplifted
high, despised the mention of His grace. Thought I had a hiding
place. But thus the eternal counsel
ran. Almighty Lord, arrest that man. I felt the arrows of distress
and found I had no hiding place. Onesimus is running and hiding. Running from a kind master. Scripture says God's arm is not
too short. Now, aren't you glad? Here's
the power of sovereign love, mercy, and grace. Here's the
gospel. Oh, the sovereign grace of God, the God of all grace,
His sovereign grace that He would choose anybody to say, anybody, The objects of His electing grace
are not worthy creatures, not good creatures, but sinners.
The necessity, all the necessity of God choosing, they won't choose
Him, they've rejected Him. Onesimus rejected Philemon. He
didn't want anything to do with Philemon. Adam, that's what Adam
did in the garden, and that's what man is by nature, doesn't
want God. I don't want anything to do with
God. Don't talk to me about God. Don't talk to me about God who's
done all this work. No, I don't want to hear this. That's torture
to me. Now how ungrateful is that? How unworthy is that? How rebellious
is that? Oh, the necessity of electing
love, of electing mercy, and electing grace. Oh, the power
of His grace to make someone who hates the truth, who makes
someone who hates God, who makes someone who doesn't want anything
to do with God, Desire more than anything, mercy at the hands
of that God, and grace, and forgiveness, and pardon, and want to come
home. Don't cast me out. Oh, the love
that drew salvation plan. Oh, the grace that brought it
down to man. Oh, the gulf that God did span. Onesimus rejected his master. See, grace is not an offer. He
had already rejected it. He had already rejected mercy
and grace. He had already despised it. So have we. He ran afar off. Onesimus rejects
his master. Oh, the amazing wondrous sovereignty
of God and His purpose and His power in all things in bringing
a wayward, a rebel sinner back home. It takes the power of God. Now listen to this. Listen to
me. Stay with me. I'm struggling
a little bit, but I'm telling you the truth. It's good. Everything
you've heard is great. Onesimus won't hear the gospel. Doesn't want to hear the gospel.
I'm getting out of here. So what does he do? He goes to
Rome. Far away. I'm going to get as far away
as I can. But God in Rome. He's Paul the Apostle. No greater
preacher ever. Now Paul was down at Colossae
preaching, and Onesimus is sitting there listening to him. He said,
I can't take this. I'm leaving. He goes to Rome.
What does God do? Puts Paul in Rome. I'm not going
to hear him in Colossae. You are going to hear him. You are going to hear him. Without
the hearing of the gospel, the preaching of the gospel, they
won't be saved. Faith comes by hearing. So God in His sovereign
mercy, oh, how mysterious are His ways. And God put Paul in
prison. Oh, He put Paul in prison. Isn't
that wonderful? To write these letters, to write
the book of Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, to write
this letter while he was in prison. To write the letter of Onesimus'
salvation. Went all the way to the ends
of the earth, put him in prison. All right, Onesimus is in Rome. In the world. He thinks, this
is where it's at. I'm going to make a man out of
myself. You're going to make a fool out of yourself. I'm going
to get it all here. You're going to lose it all here.
You're going to be lying in the gutter. You know where he ended
up. And could be. I believe this actually happened.
Because this is how the Lord does things. He ended up in the
gutter. All right? He ended up in the
gutter. And some woman who was want,
or it was her habit or joy to come and listen to Paul preach
in the prison. Some woman. People did. They
let people come and hear Paul preach while he was in prison.
Chained to a centurion. And people came to hear him preach.
And a woman is passing by one day. And there sits Onesimus
in the gutter. They tried to tell this. This
is wonderful. This is me! And this woman is
passing by and there sits on there, son, where are you from? He's down and out. Where are
you from? Colossi. What are you doing down
here? Oh, I thought, you know, thought I'd go to Rome. You got
anything to eat? No. Son, I don't have any silver and gold,
and I don't have any food. Maybe we can get you something.
But, son, what you need is you need to hear the Word of God. You need to hear the Gospel of
God. You need to hear... Son, you need to come with me. I'm going to hear a man preach
the Word of God, the Gospel of God. that's able to make you
wise unto salvation." Son, this is the one thing they... Would
you come with me and hear this man? He said, oh, I reckon, I
guess I can get anything better to do. He said, what's the preacher's
name? Paul. Paul. So he went, and he crawled in,
he got to church, at prison. In the back row, he didn't want
to be seen. That's where people generally come when they, you
know, the Lord brings them in. They come in the back row and
they end up, if the Lord saves them, they end up on the front
row. But he, he came in, slipped in the back, and there was that
little fella named Paul. You know, Paul means little.
That's appropriate, isn't it? That's what he's named, man.
Little bald-headed fella, yep. Little bald-headed fella, a prisoner.
He's sitting there in chains. He's sitting there in chains,
a little nobody. He's got an eye, a disfigured
eye, and he's not much to look at and maybe not much to listen
to, but boy, he's got the power of God. Not in himself, but in
the Word of God. And he's preaching, and people
are sitting around, and he's preaching. I know what he's preaching,
because I heard it. I know what he's preaching. Here's
what he's preaching. He's preaching to these people, He's saying,
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and from the Lord
Jesus Christ. Oh, blessed be the God and Father of our Lord
Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with all spiritual blessing
in heavenly places, in Christ, according as He has chosen us
in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should
be holy without blame before Him in love. having predestinated
us under the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to Himself, according
to the good pleasure of His will." He's preaching sovereign mercy.
He's preaching sovereign grace. He's preaching sovereign election.
He's preaching redemption by the Son. He's preaching election
by the Father, redemption by the Son, and regeneration by
the Holy Spirit. That's what He preaches everywhere
He went, every time He preached. He says, "...to the praise of
the glory of His grace, wherein He hath made us accepted." He's
not asking anybody to accept Jesus, but he's telling some
sinners that God does accept some sinners, in whom we have redemption. He
says, oh, in time past we walked according to the course of this
world. Paul said, this was me. Though I was in religion, I was
under the bondage and the captivity of Satan himself. Thought I was
doing God's bidding. Thought I was doing God's work
in the name of God, but I didn't even know God. I hated this way. He says, Oh,
blessed be God. I walked according to the prince
of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the
children of disobedient. I had my conversation in time
past, in the lust of the flesh, fulfilling the desires of the
flesh and the mind. I was by nature a child of wrath,
even as others. But God, rich in mercy, For His great love wherewith
He loved me, us, even when dead in sin. Paul said, I was dead
in sin. Quickened us together. It's by
grace you say. It's all by grace through faith,
and that's not of yourselves, it's a gift of God. Not of worthless
any man should go, where his workmanship. Paul preached sovereign,
electing, redeeming, eternal grace that's in Jesus Christ
and Christ alone. Every time. Every time. Now Onesimus heard that growing
up. He heard Paul preach, but he
never heard it. Never. I can't tell you how many sermons
I've heard. I'm a preacher's kid. And there was a day that
I couldn't get out of there fast enough. I'm telling you, my salvation
is 1,000% dependent on the electing grace of God, the power of God
and His Word. Not the preacher, because Charles,
I heard him time and time and time again, and I didn't hear
him, but God. There came a time, I hear. On this one, sir. He heard. The light comes on. His ears
are open. His eyes are open. Look at me.
Look at me. Look what I've done. Look what
I've done to my master. Like the prodigal son. Against God have I sinned, like
David, against thee and thee only have I sinned, and done
this evil in thy sight. My gracious, kind, and merciful
giving God has done all this for me. What have I done for
Him? Nothing but rebel. Nothing but despise the mention
of His grace. Nothing but hate His goodness.
Trot underfoot the blood of the Son of God. Don't want to hear
about this blood of Jesus Christ. Go away with that. Oh, but God. You see, the gospel is this power
of God unto salvation. Now listen to me. This is not
no sentimental message about man and his love for man. This
is about God's sovereign love. We're not saved by love, we're
saved by blood. You understand? It was love that
drew salvation's plan, but the thing that procured the salvation
of God's people was the death of the Son of God. The blood
of the Lord Jesus Christ. We're not saved by sentiment.
We're saved by substitution. Do you hear me? We're not saved
by emotion. We're saved by satisfaction,
by propitiation. We're saved by somebody dying
on our behalf. Read it. Read it with me here.
Verses 9 through 19. It says that Paul... Well, verse... I don't have time.
In verse... Let's see. Not even in the book. Wrong book. There we go. In verse
10, Paul says, I beseech thee for my son Onesimus. Paul is
praying on behalf of Onesimus. Onesimus is before he didn't
know God. He's praying now, but his salvation
doesn't depend on his prayers. His salvation depends on Paul
interceding on his behalf. And our salvation doesn't depend
upon us calling on the Lord. Our salvation depends upon Jesus
Christ, our mediator, our intercessor, our high priest, making intercession
for us. And He did that in that high
priestly prayer, didn't He? I pray for them, those that Thou
hast given Me. I will, Paul said, I will, that
He be with me and be with you. Whosoever shall call, yes, but
we don't get glory for calling. Read on, verse 14, it says, without
thy mind would I do nothing. This is all according to the
will of God. That thou would do this willingly,
he said, if I leave. And this was the will of God,
not the will of God that any should perish. Any of who? Any
of who? God works all things after the
counsel of his own will. Everything is according to his
will. Any of who? His people. those given to Christ
in that covenant. They're not going to perish.
He's long-suffering to them. And he says in verse, here it
is, satisfaction, substitution. Paul says in verse 18, as a type
of Christ, he says, if he hath wronged thee, if he owes you
anything, put it on my account. That's imputation. What Jesus Christ did on Calvary's
tree is be made sin for God's people. He who knew no sin, that
we might be made the righteousness of God in Him. 2 Corinthians
5.21. This is the gospel, plain and clear. Substitution. Satisfaction. Jesus Christ, by His life, satisfied
God. His holiness. Kept His law. And we've broken it. Onesimus
has got to pay for this crime, doesn't he? Vesemus stole something,
he doesn't have anything to pay, does he? And Paul says, whatever
he owes you, I'll pay it. Look at verse 19, I've written
it with my own hand, I will repay it. Christ is an equal with the
Father, he says, you count me your partner. Christ is an equal
with the Father, says to the Father, not that the Father was
not willing, but as this type, he says to the Father, I will
that they be with me where I am. I will take their sins in my
body on the tree. I will suffer on their account. I will suffer their hell and
their judgment. I will give them my righteousness.
I will. I will. I will. And the Father's
plea, I will accept that. I will. The power of God's grace, now
here it is, and I close with it. Here it is. To take one of these worthless
sinners, a rebel, and break him, make
him a broken and contrite sinner. To take a rebel and make him
want to go back home. To take a thief and make him
sorry, make him grateful, not want to steal but want to give
back. To make a no good, now make him want to do some good,
be some good. Take a runaway and make him want to go home
with all his heart and never leave again. That takes the power
of God. In verse 15, Paul said, perhaps
he departed for a season that you should receive him forever. Now he's headed home. Stay with
me, okay? He's headed home. Onesimus has heard the truth.
God's broken his heart over sin. He wants to go back home, and he can't make anything good.
He can't pay for his crime, but Paul was his surety. Paul was
his mediator. Paul was the one that said, I'll
pay the bride. And that's Christ. Christ is
our surety. Christ is our intercessor. Christ's
blood is our payment. And he's headed home. Now suppose
this, and this probably happened. Suppose some old friends came
out. He's leaving. Some old friends
confronted him. This happens all the time. It happened to
me. Come with us on Nesimus. We're
heading out tonight. Gonna have a good time. Wanna
come with us? I gotta go home. We're gonna go hear the Roman
rebels in the Colosseum tonight, man. They got the beat. I've got to hear the gospel.
I've got to get home and hear the gospel. I need mercy. I tell
you what, why don't you fellas come with me? Oh, are you kidding? You're going to do what? I'm
going to go hear the gospel. I've got to get back home. I've
got to hear the gospel. It's the one thing I need more
than anything else. I've got to hear pardon. I've
got to hear forgiveness of sin. I've got to hear about mercy. Come with me. Oh, no. See you
later, old messman. That happened. And now he's going back home
to his offended master, Philemon. Good intentions can't save him.
Good words and fair speeches won't save him, will it? Good
resolve? What about if he tells Philemon,
I'm going to do better. What about that? I'm going to
do better. Good works? I'll be the best servant you
ever had. Will that make up for it? No, it won't do it. You know
what's going to be his acceptance with Philemon? Huh? He's holding in his hand. Look
at the last verse, okay? You see the last verse 25? You
see right under that? What does it say? It says, "...written
from Rome to Philemon by Onesimus." See, Paul had bad eyesight, and
others had to write his letters for him. And Paul's sitting there
writing this letter. He says, Onesimus, take dictation
here. I want you to write this down. Paul is writing Onesimus'
pardon. He's writing the words of his
forgiveness and his pardon. And Onesimus, he can't write
them through the tears that are poured now. And after that letter's
finished, you see, you understand what I'm saying? This letter,
this word, this pardon, this letter is His salvation, is His
acceptance. And He's got this letter, this
role. And He says, now you go to your offended master. You
go back home to Philemon with this letter of your pardon, and
you present that to him. Don't tell him anything, just
present that to him. You just tell him what I said. So he's gone, tell me, John.
He's going home and he's got that role in his hand. And he's
not going to let go of it for nothing and nobody. It's the
dearest thing on earth to him. You do understand. This is not
just the Bible. This is my pardon. These are
exceeding precious promises by which I'm a partaker of the divine
nature, having escaped the corruption that's in the world through lust,
This is my salvation. This is God's Word that says,
believe on the side and thou shalt be saved. You can't have
this. Take anything but not this. And I'm here to tell you, every
sinner, no matter what you've done, no matter where you've
been, no matter who you are, you go to the Father with this
pardon, with this promise, believing on Christ, He will accept you. If I never preach the gospel
again, you've heard it. There is no other gospel. Sovereign
electing grace. Sovereign mercy. Sovereign love
from a kind God to unworthy wretches and rebels and thieves. Unworthy. Who have nothing to do with this. Nothing. Nothing. But Jesus Christ, the
Mediator, the Substitute, the Savior of sinners, did it all. And God, in that same sovereign
mercy and electing love, sends this gospel to His elect to tell
them about Christ and Him crucified. And they hear it. A time they
wouldn't hear it, and they're going to hear it. He said, My
sheep hear My voice. I know them. They're going to
follow Me. They're going to come to Me. Like Onesimus, they're
going to come home. And you'll come back to the Father,
pleading the blood of Christ, pleading the righteousness of
Christ, not pleading their work, but pleading for mercy, pleading
the promises. God, you said, if I come to you
in Christ, you receive me. You said this. Do you know what
the Father is going to say? Do you know what Philemon said?
I can guarantee you, I know what Philemon did. Helen, this is
your hope. I know what Philemon said. I'm
so glad to have you. Come on in, son. Well, just let
me take a place back there. Just let me be a slave. Oh, no. Philemon, no. Paul has purchased your freedom,
too. He's purchased your pardon and
your forgiveness, but now you're not going to be a slave anymore,
Philemon. You're going to be a son. Yeah, I've adopted
you, Philemon. You're no longer a slave. Everything
I own belongs to you. You're free. You're free. What's
he going to do? He's not going anywhere. He's
home to stay. Boy, I could almost wish I could
die right now. All right, John. Let's sing a
song. Number 236 Number 236 Amazing grace, how sweet the
sound that saved a wretch like me. I once was lost, but now
I'm found. A time but now I see. But grace that taught my heart
to fear. And grace my fears relieved. How precious did and grace appeared
the hour I first believed. Sing the last part. When we've
been there ten thousand years, bright shining as the sun, We
know there's days to sing God's praise, and when we first begun You can't have this gospel.