I'm going to read to you this
morning the whole book of Paul, his letter to Philemon. We have it as 25 verses, it's
just in case you need to find it, it's just after Titus and
right before Hebrews. The epistle of Paul to Philemon.
Paul, a prisoner of Jesus Christ, and Timothy, our brother, unto
Philemon, our dearly beloved and fellow laborer, and to beloved
Aphia and Archippus, our fellow soldier, and to the church in
thy house. Grace to you and peace from God
our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. I thank God making mention
of thee always in my prayers, hearing of thy love and faith
which thou hast toward the Lord Jesus and toward all saints,
that the communication of thy faith may become effectual by
the acknowledging of every good thing which is in you in Christ
Jesus. For we have great joy and consolation
in thy love, because the bowels of the saints are refreshed by
thee, brother. Wherefore, though I might be
much bold in Christ to enjoin thee to that which is convenient,
yet for love's sake I rather beseech thee, being such and
one as Paul the aged, and now also a prisoner of Jesus Christ. I beseech thee for my son Onesimus,
whom I have begotten in my bonds, which in time past was to thee
unprofitable, but now profitable to thee and to me. Whom I have
sent again, thou therefore receive him, that is mine own vows. Whom I would have retained with
me, that in thy stead he might have ministered unto me in the
bonds of the gospel. But without thy mind would I
do nothing. That thy benefit should not be
as it were of necessity, but willingly, for perhaps he therefore
departed for a season, that thou shouldest receive him forever,
not now as a servant, but above a servant, a brother beloved,
specially to me, but how much more unto thee, both in the flesh
and in the Lord. If thou count me therefore as
a partner, receive him as myself. If he hath wronged thee, or oweth
thee aught, put that on my own account. I, Paul, have written
it with my own hand. I will repay it, albeit I do
not say to thee how thou owest unto me even thine own self besides. Yea, brother, let me have joy
of thee in the Lord, refresh my bowels, in the Lord, having
confidence in thy obedience I wrote unto thee, knowing that thou
wilt also do more than I say. But withal, prepare me also a
lodging, for I trust that through your prayers I shall be given
unto you. There salute the Epiphras, my
fellow prisoner in Christ Jesus, Marcus, Aristarchus, Demas, Lucas,
my fellow laborers. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ
be with your spirit, amen. Now there is, in this small book, there is a plethora
of divine truth. I thought about saying it does
not compare with Paul's epistle to the Romans. And that's true
in the sense that it does not have great explanations of profound
glorious doctrines. And yet, at the same time, this
small personal letter to a man named Philemon has within it
the truth of salvation by grace and what it does for those who
are saved. This is probably the most personal
letter written by Paul that is included in the Divide Canon.
The most personal. It is basically just a personal
letter from Paul to this man named Philemon. Yes, he sends
a couple of hellos when he begins. And he sends a few greetings
from those that were with him. But the letter is to one man.
A man that Paul describes here in verse one as our dearly beloved. Dearly beloved. And a fellow
laborer. This thing of the gospel is not
just something we do every Sunday morning. Or every Sunday morning
and Sunday night and a midweek service sometime. This is actual
labor in the Lord. Because gospel preaching, trying
to preach the gospel to at least the world at which we're acquainted,
the people that are around us, is an everyday endeavor. It's
an everyday endeavor. Think about this. Paul described
that man, dearly beloved. It's one named Philemon. Now
just a few things about him. This is one that cannot be proven
from the scripture itself, but as in many who've studied history
and those things, seem to say that Philemon seemed to be a
man of some monetary substance, and there's some reasons why
you might think that. He clearly owned at least one slave, and
that was Onesimus, but Onesimus had abandoned him. But a few
things we do know, the church gathered in his house, that's
in verse two. Now, notice that, and you know
this here, but there are some who don't. He did not have a
building inside of his house. You hear what I'm saying? Most
people today, when they talk about the church, they're talking
about buildings. And that's not even sound Greek.
And neither is it the truth of scripture by any stretch of the
imagination. The church is people. The church is people. And I'm
not trying to be overly bearing here, but God help us to start
using the right language. Because the church that is in
the house, what's he talking about? The saints gathered at
Philemon's house. That's where they got together
and worshiped. The gospel was preached and they sang songs
and they prayed and they fellowshiped together. The church gathered
in his house. The third thing is this, his
faith and love was well reported. You'll see that in verse five.
As one said to another years ago, I believe that person's
well saved. I believe that person's well
saved. Faith and love. being reported. Now it wasn't reported by everyone
around them because there were unbelievers who could have cared
less about what they believed. But amongst the assembly of the
saints, this man had a reputation of this. He loves God's people. He loves Christ's gospel. He
supports Christ's gospel. According to Paul in verse six,
he says, Thylemon honored Christ in his walk. That's what he said. He honored Christ in his walk.
I know there are those who accuse us of not being concerned about
walk, but we are concerned about walk. Yes, sir. I don't walk
as I should. And neither do you. But I'll tell you what, by God's
grace, we walk in every good work that God before ordained
that we should walk there in. And not one more, and not one
less. And I will drop that right there
because that's just the way it is. Not only that, Philemon,
Paul says in verse seven, gave to the necessity of the saints.
You refresh their bowels. That's what he's talking about.
Philemon used his resources and they evidently were considerable
because Paul mentioned it. It wasn't just a dollar bill
here or there. This man gave of his substance, for what? For
the necessity of the saints. You've refreshed the bowels of
the saints. And sixthly, in verse 21, when
Paul gets near the end of this personal letter, Paul knew Philemon
obeyed the truth and was not slothful. and would even go beyond
what Paul was pleading with him to do. Doesn't he? That's what you could find. You
could find those things in this letter. And you could find much
more. But, this letter is not about
a pat on the back for Philemon. Is it? Now let me tell you something,
we need to encourage one another. Paul Mahan and I talked about
this a little bit yesterday. You get to that point, well I
don't want to make someone proud. They're already proud. We're
already proud. But we need to encourage one
another because this is a labor. It's a labor, it's a battle.
Some places when Paul writes some epistles he calls men who
stand preaching the gospel and others who do specific things
fellow soldiers. Fellow soldiers. But this was
not about just a pat on the back. It was no simple correspondence.
How are you doing, Philemon? How's things going down at your
house? Was it? That's not what it was
about. Philemon owned a man, and you heard what I said? I said Philemon owned a man named
Onesimus. That's just the facts. And I'll
say that because that's the facts and just leave that right where
it is. That's the way it was. Philemon owned a man named Onesimus.
But Onesimus had wrong Philemon in some serious way. You see
that in the first part of verse 11, and he mentions it again
in the first part of verse 18. Now we are not told specifically
what it was. And aren't you glad? Aren't you
glad? Do you want the apostle? Do you
want Joe? Do you want Walter? Do you want
anyone talking to someone else about the specifics of your failures?
Do you? Paul was being gracious here. He loved both Philemon and Onesimus
equally. And he was not about to bring
up the particular details of Onesimus' problem. Was he? That, my brothers and sisters,
is Christian love. And I will mention it again,
love covers, not hides, Not seeks to deny that wrong has been done,
but love covers a multitude of sin. So here's one thing that
lets me know when I'm not loving like I should, when I start speaking
of one of you all's particular problem. Do you hear what I just
said to you? Do you hear what I just said
to you? We ought to talk to one another honestly about one another,
but some things are left where they ought to be, covered up.
Do you hear what I say? We all know what we are. We all
know what we are. God brought us to that understanding.
At least to some degree, we don't need to bring up the details.
God help us. God help us. I have that kind
of love, but joy don't always show it. God help me to try to
always show it. You understand what I'm saying,
what I'm getting at? But think about it. Onesimus
had bit the hand that fed him. Philemon took care of this man. The whole indication of who Philemon
was, and that's why Paul expresses this, not to brag about Philemon,
but Philemon knows he had not mistreated Onesimus at all. I'd
say Onesimus probably had it a whole lot better in Philemon's
household than he would have had on his own. And I'm not making
it up for you anything, I'm not going into something, that's
just the way it is. Now, many go and say, well, Onesimus
probably did this or that. I don't know. But whatever it
was, it was serious enough that Onesimus fled to Rome. Now, we're
not told the details, but you know what happens when you mess
up, cook the books, stick a little in your pocket when you shouldn't
have. Huh? Taken more than what your boss
or whatever said. It's like, I got to get away
from this. I've got to hide myself. Keep this under wraps. I can
see, and I don't know whether this is all the fact, but I can
see Onesimus fouling up royally, as we say. He done something
bad. And he says, I got to get out
of here. And he flees, kind of like Jonah. He fled from the
presence of the Lord. And I just think maybe he thought
Rome would be a good place to go. Lots of people, plenty of
places to hide out, things to do. He may have had a pocket
full of money. Who knows? We don't know. But he had sinned against Philemon.
He'd done Philemon wrong and he fled to Rome, but little did
he know, he was fleeing right into the hands of God Almighty.
Because there was a man named Paul locked up in prison. Ain't that glorious? Onesimus had bit the hand that
fed him and he fled to Rome, but is not this the way we were
toward our God? He owns us. He owns every human
being that's ever been or ever will be on the face of this earth. We are his property. And he feeds us and clothes us,
even sometimes gives us certain pleasures to enjoy. And we bite
his hand. And we take from him. We're not
even good prodigal sons sometimes. The father gave the prodigal
son his inheritance and he wasted it. Sometimes we steal the father's
inheritance. Don't we? We bite the hand that
feeds us, and then we seek to flee from the very God that took
care of us all this time. Onesimus, my brothers and sisters,
is you and I by nature. And this is a real letter. This
is not a type. This is not a picture, per se,
as Old Testament sacrifices. This is a real life account. A real life account, and it's
just, I will not have near enough time to go into all that's here.
Some of the things that just, you wouldn't even think of. There
salute thee Epaphras, my fellow prisoner in Christ Jesus. There's
another man locked up, what? And Paul doesn't call him a prisoner
of Rome. What would we write if we were
locked up and writing back? Well, the states got me locked
up. I'm locked up under the power of the state of West Virginia."
No, Paul says, I am Christ's prisoner. That's the way we ought
to talk. You see? That's the way we ought
to talk. But that's not my message. Again,
Onesimus had bit the hand that fed him and fled to Rome. Moreover, but even more, this
letter is not about legalities. This letter is not about human
jurisprudence. This is not Paul trying to make
sure Roman law is followed. Although Paul is not trying to
disobey Roman law. Here's the point. Philemon owned
Onesimus. But there's something more important
than that. This is a spiritual matter. Here's
my message, here's my title. God has converted Onesimus. And that changes the whole deal.
Yes, sir. That changed the whole deal.
That's right. If Onesimus needed to be returned
to Philemon by law, then Rome could deal with that. Yeah. That's
not Paul's purpose. Exactly. That's not what he's
been called for. That's right. To keep the law, make sure I'm
doing everything the law, or everybody's supposed to be doing
everything the law says. That's not what Paul's dealing
with here. No, sir. It's not about human jurisprudence. God
Almighty had converted Onesimus. And Paul said, now there's a
job to do. Isn't it? There is a higher law. There's
a higher law. And that law deals with love.
That law doesn't even deal with necessity. Law demands necessity.
But Paul says this is about love. Isn't that what he says? This
is about love. You see, it's not about us trying
to get good laws, not as gospel believers, not as a local assembly,
not as a pastor here or Joe a pastor. We're not here to try to have
the government make good laws or have the government get rid
of bad laws. There are good laws and there are bad laws, and we
leave that in God's hands. When you go to the polls, if
you do, you vote before God according to your own conscience. But I'm
not here to tell you how to vote. I'm telling us this is how we
conduct ourselves in this world because we are Onesimuses that's
been converted. That's what we do. That's what
we deal with. Everything else will fall in its own place. Everything
else will fall in its own place. has converted Onesimus. Remember, this is no type. This
is a real life happening. This really took place, Mason
Lilly, about 2,000 years ago. And Paul sat down and it says,
if you read the little caption at the bottom, written from Rome
to Philemon by Onesimus. And some historians say that
was probably right, that most of the time, Paul had someone
else write out the letters as he spoke to him. Said, okay,
write this down. But you could tell, at least in one place,
Paul took over and he said, I wrote it with my own hand. and I can
see Philemon unrolling that thing now, looking at it and saying,
and remember, Onesimus has carried this letter in his hand, going
back to Philemon, and I'm figuring Onesimus is, thank God for this
letter. You think he would have really
enjoyed going back to Philemon without that letter? Huh? Think
about that now. But he's got this letter that
he's wrote, maybe, maybe, we don't know for sure. I don't
know if that caption, Joe, is part of the inspired canon or
not. I don't think it is, but no matter what, even if it was,
Onesimus is writing, Paul said, I can stop right there. If he
hath wronged thee or owed thee all, put that on my account.
I, Paul, have written it with my own hand. I will repay it.
And finally, he even run and rolls that thing, and he says,
well, that's Onesimus. I figure he knows what Onesimus' writing
looked like. And all of a sudden he gets to
that part and the writing change. That's Paul writing. Only Estimus
didn't make this up. This is not a cover story. Some
people use Christianity as a cover story. We've had them right here
in this assembly and I don't say that angrily, I say that
with a broken heart. See how I told you there's so much here?
Because you know there's more to it than just what we read.
You understand? And the reason we're not told
all the details is because all details vary here or there, but
there are certain things that are always the same. You see,
you get what I hope you get what I just said. All the particular
details of any certain circumstance may vary, but when it comes to
Christ and his saints and his gospel and the love of that,
there's always a strict black and white truth. And that's what
Paul deals with. What really matters. Because
your circumstance may vary from mine. But Joe, we're all Onesimuses. We all bit the hand of our owner. And we fled from him. This is no type. This is God's
grace. And it illustrates God's grace. Now I'm gonna give you five things
this morning I'll try to be fairly brief. On two of them, I'll give
you a little more details than others, but just five things
this morning. All of that other was just leading up to these.
Just consider this, my brothers and sisters, of the sovereign
power and wisdom of God's purposed providence. Verse 15, for perhaps,
and when Paul says perhaps, he's not saying maybe this is true,
maybe it's not true. Even though Paul is writing, and I don't
even know if Paul's sitting there or, Paul is, whatever, Paul's
writing, Onesimus is writing for Paul. You understand what
I'm saying? What I'm trying to get at is
Paul, when he says perhaps, I don't know that Paul's thinking, okay,
what I'm writing is gonna be in an inspired canon one day,
and I've gotta get this exactly right. That wasn't the way it
worked. He just sat down, Mason, and was having penned a personal
letter to a beloved brother in Christ, a fellow laborer named
Philemon. And Paul doesn't know everything.
And Paul does know men, though. He does know men, though. He
said, for perhaps he therefore departed for a season. But here's
why. That thou shouldest receive him
forever, and not as a servant, but above a servant. In other
words, he's saying God Almighty was in this Philemon. Now I'm gonna say something I
know will shock some people. Philemon and Onesimus both. I know Philemon
did, but Onesimus probably as well knew Paul prior to this
Rome meeting after he fled. He was a slave in Philemon's
house. Philemon and Paul had met one
another, knew one another personally. I figure Onesimus had heard Paul
the apostle preach. And yet, what happened? No fruit,
was there? He ended up doing Philemon wrong. Think about that. But is that
not the way it is with us? We heard the very truth of God,
but then God in his own wise, sovereign purpose lets us make
that one or two mistakes that just really seems to bring the
world crashing down. And we run from God. And somebody
says, why? Because that's just the way God,
why'd they go to Babylon? Why not Syria? You see what I'm
saying? But God said Babylon's where
you're going. Now you're going because of your sin, but I'm
the one who's gonna drive you there. I'm the driver, but now
Nebuchadnezzar's gonna be the one with the spheres. But I'm
the driver. Joe, I'm glad you preached on
that. Give me a little more fire here. But do you see how God
Almighty even used the sin of this man to drive this man both
inwardly and outwardly? right to the very place he needed
to be. And it's kinda odd, it don't
tell us this, but how is it that Onesimus heard Paul preach from
Paul's imprisoned? Maybe Onesimus got in trouble
in Rome. Maybe he gets locked up in that, isn't this a coincidence? He gets locked up in the same
cell or the same prison where Paul the Apostle's at, and he
probably, I think, If that happened, I know that voice. That's Paul. That's Paul. Can you imagine
the guilt? If these are the circumstances,
can you imagine the guilt that began to grip his soul? And then
maybe even the fear. Whoa, what if Paul finds out
I'm here? Paul might hammer me. Paul might expose me, Paul might
tell them who I really am. Mason, I don't know if that happened
or not, but something along that line happened, did it not? Something
like that happened. But I could just see Paul saying,
uh oh, I've heard about Onesimus, and here he is. Here he is. Oh glory! Here he is! So what's he do, hammer him?
No, he preaches the gospel How do I know that? I beseech thee
for my son Onesimus, whom I have begotten in my bonds. He talked
about gospel preaching. You say, well, I don't think
that's what that means. Well, you're wrong. I've been doing this long enough
and reading this book long enough. God's given me enough wisdom
to know that's exactly what Paul was talking about. I tell you,
take my word for it. That's what he's talking about. Consider it, the sovereign power
and the wisdom of God's purpose, providence. Onesimus had wronged,
sinned, and fled. And God, what did he, Joey drove
him right into the arms of Paul. And isn't that the way it is
with us? The very thing we despised. Gritted our teeth against. And
we said, I will do my own thing. Maybe that's right, but I'm gonna
do my own thing. And then all of a sudden, your
world comes crashing down. And God drives you right into
the arms of someone, someone who spoke to you of the glories
of the person and work of Jesus Christ. And that began to rock
your world again. For the better. For the better. Consider this, my brothers and
sisters, all the love of those converted to Christ for those
converted to Christ. You see, this thing is real.
It's not a put on. I was in religion at one time, so-called Christian
religion, and we said, oh, I love you, love you, love you, love
you. Handshakes, hugs, but all's it took. But when we go home,
do you hear what so-and-so did? Do you hear about so-and-so last
week? Or, Henry May had mentioned this
one time. You remember being in some of those meetings way
back yonder? Start playing 15 verses of Just As I Am and three
or four people go forward and everybody's sitting back there
really thinking, I wonder what they did this week. Huh? You ever been there? That's what
that kind of thing, all that coming forward and praying because
you backslid this week is nothing more than a papal booth. You go in to confess your sins
to the priest without the curtains around it. That's all it is. just without the curtains around
it and the little screen that you sit behind or whatever. Joe,
you'd have to tell me about that. I don't know if you went to confessional
much or not. You said you wasn't a good Catholic, so. You understand what I'm saying?
Look at the love, look at verse 11. Look at it. Which in time
past was unprofitable to the unprofitable. He don't deny that,
but he don't go into details, does he? But, oh what a, Huge
three-letter word. But now is, but now profitable. Profitable. So this lets me know
he's talking about another kind of profit. He ain't talking about
just money now, is he? But now profitable to thee and
to me. You see it? Let me give you this
other verse, 15 and 16. I read it. For perhaps he therefore
departed for a season that thou shouldest receive him forever.
This is God at work, Philemon. Not now as a servant. So he's
saying, Philemon, this has a whole lot more to do than just legal
matters. Human jurisprudence. But above a servant, a brother
beloved. Especially to me, but how much,
you think especially to me, so therefore, you ought to, what
he said, especially to me, but how much more unto thee? Both
in the flesh, Mason, and in the Lord. We are profitable to one
another in both venues. You see what I'm saying? In both venues. I could preach
on that for weeks. In both venues. Oh, the love
of those converted to Christ for those who have been converted
to Christ. Here's the third one. Consider
this, my brothers and sisters, the absolute necessity of God's
ordained means. Paul says, I begot him. What, Paul, now wait a minute,
you're leaving Calvinism a little here, Paul. No, no, no. Let me tell you something, gospel
preaching, and God's ordained that certain people be the individual
or individuals to tell other certain individuals, God's ordained
it that way. Who you heard the gospel from,
God purposed that before the world began. And that gospel
preaching is just as vital as your election in Christ before
the world began. Because all of that was in lieu of what takes
place with us personally in this world, in this life. If we despise,
belittle, or whatever adjective you wanna use, if we despise
the means, you despise God. Now that humbles me. I know a
lot of doctrine, and I found myself getting one-sided in doctrine
before. And that don't help. That don't
help. For instance, regeneration is
the work of the Spirit only. So since that is true, why do
I have to sit around and argue about it? And debate the doctrine
of it? Come on now. What is the responsibility
of us Onesimuses, us Pauls, us Philemons, speak to one another
about the personal work of Jesus Christ? You see how important
it is for us? You see? Mason, he's put this
treasure, that's gospel preaching, declaring Christ in earthen vessels.
So now you really know. Okay, yeah, a guy comes along,
he plants a seed. Another guy comes along, he waters.
But God gives the increase. And the one that plants and the
one that waters, they're nothing. But their planting and watering
is not nothing. See, that's where you gotta be
careful. I'm nothing. But what I'm doing, Joe, is everything. Because it's a part of God's
sovereign purpose. His ordained means. Look at it,
here's another one. Look at this. Let me find my spot here. Verse
22, that's it. But withal, prepare me also a
lodging. Paul was hoping, had this desire. Let out of this prison. Look,
for I trust that through your prayers, I shall be given unto
you. Get me a lodging ready. Get me
a room, some clothes, maybe a little food. That's what Paul's talking
about to Philemon. He knew Philemon had done it.
He'd done it for a long time, Joe. Get me a place ready, Philemon. Why, plus your prayers. That
astounded me when I read that the other day. Now, is Paul saying,
I moved God? No, he's saying God moves us
and he's pleased to even use our praying for one another.
That's how important it is. That's a means. Well, but God's
sovereign. What's going to happen's going
to happen. Well, that's a given. What ain't going to happen is
not what's going to happen or it wouldn't be what not going
to happen. Even a philosopher ought to know that. Right? A
little kid probably knows what's going to happen is going to happen.
What's not going to happen is not going to happen. But that's
not the point. God has ordained means. Let us rejoice in being
given the privilege to engage in those things. But you know
how many people profess to be Christians? Well, I gotta have
my evening prayers now. It ought not be that way. Should
it? It ought to be the outpouring
of our hearts in love for our fellow brothers and sisters in
Christ, and our absolute trust, knowing God, if you don't do
it, it won't get done. Right? It won't get done. The absolute necessity of God's
ordained means. And there's others I could go
on through here. Sometimes it may be locked up in prison. I'm
sure Paul would have rather been somewhere else, don't you think
so? But he knew God had put him there. And I know Nessimus wanted
to be somewhere else. But he did whatever it was, he
took off evidently. I could just see him thinking,
Rome, it's got to be glorious. Probably never seen Rome before,
I don't know. But you know what, I'd go party down. Have me a
good time, free, I'll be free. Not really free, he thought he
was free, didn't he? But what's God do? He uses certain means. Well, a horse caravan's coming
this way, and Onesimus, well, I better turn that way, because
I don't want them to see me. And he goes this way, and Mason,
every street he went on was ordained of God means to put him right,
exactly where he was supposed to be. Isn't that amazing? Number four, think of this, my
brothers and sisters, the power of the gospel to convert the
soul. He was unprofitable. Now he's profitable. Do you see
that? Do you see that? Verse 13. Whom I would have retained with
me that in thy stead he might have ministered unto me in the
bonds of the gospel. Paul said, as far as I'm concerned, I'd
as soon kept him here. And he could have been working for me.
Helping me. I should say working for the
Lord, helping me in your place. Isn't that what he's saying there,
Mason? But without thy mind, I wouldn't
do anything. You see what he's saying? He didn't show up because
of the law. Did he? Did he? He said, but without thy mind,
I would do nothing. That thy benefits should not
be as it were of necessity, but willing. How many times did we
do stuff because it's of necessity, and we think it was our will,
because we willed that. You see, Paul makes the distinction
here, don't he? See, true willingness is when you do it and you don't
have to. You see what he's saying there? See, I said, there's another
six months preaching right there. Power of the gospel to convert
the soul. Verse 15, read it again. Perhaps
he departed for a season that thou shouldest receive him forever,
but not as a servant, but above. A brother. Beloved. Brother, you would receive him,
Paul goes on to say, look, if thou count me therefore a partner,
receive him as myself. This man had wronged Philemon.
Probably stole from him or something. Did something wrong. Hurt somebody
at his house. I don't know. But it was bad. And Paul said, you receive him
just like you'd receive me. If you'd give me a hug when he
shows up, You read this letter, you give him a hug just like
it was me standing there. Shake his hand, give him a holy kiss. Isn't that what Paul's saying,
Mason? The power of the gospel, and he's talking about Onesimus.
He's saying, I trust him. Is that not what Paul's saying
to Philemon? I trust him. Now, I don't think this is some
flash in the pan. Oh, how I've seen and fed fire to flashes
in the pan. Oh, get them baptized. Gotta
get them in the water. How often I've done that, and as soon as
they come out of the water, it ain't two or three weeks, they're gone.
Sometimes I keep them out of the water. I know that may shock
the Campbellites. But you know what Paul said?
Christ didn't send me to baptize. He sent me to do what? What did
he say he sent me to do? Preach the gospel, and I'm glad
I didn't baptize, but just a handful of you. Well, you're sitting
around bragging about who baptized you. Even who was preaching. That's God ordained that. What
are they but men by whom he believed? Now that's what he said. But
that's God's ordination, not ours. I mean, if I could pick
and choose who I would convert by my preaching, Joe, everybody
I cared for would be converted. It don't happen that way, Mason.
Don't happen that way. Oh, the power of the gospel to
convert the soul. True gospel preaching, when God
Almighty visits you, Joe, like you preached, it changes you.
That's my fifth point. Oh, what an actual example of,
and many illustrations of, the reign of God's grace in salvation. Sometimes men profess it and
it's not real, but it'll manifest itself eventually. And even if
it don't, in the end, God knows there is. And he tells us, Paul
told Timothy, he said, and let them, to name the name of Christ,
depart from iniquity. Don't lie on God, don't be dishonest,
don't walk unrighteously, honor Christ, believe his gospel. That's
what he's teaching. Oh, this example. Think about
it. A spiritual birth. I begot him. Somebody's begotten.
Now how much did you have to do with your first birth? Nothing. You had no choice in the matter?
You couldn't choose who your mommy was, who your daddy was,
where you'd be born, what your circum, nothing. It's not your
choice. It's God's choice. Thus saith
the Lord. It's right here, it's in this
book from cover to cover. Genesis to the book of the Revelation.
It's a spiritual birth. It's divine representation. Look
at it. Whom I have sinned again that thou receive him that is
mine own bowels. He's a part of me now. We're
part of the same body. Paul says he's a gut and I'm
a gut. Nah, that's not exactly what Paul was getting at, but
you know what I'm saying there? If you receive me in your bowels,
that's the way they used to talk about loving you with all the
heart, love in the bowels of mercies. He said you receive
him just like you would me. It's divine representation. You
see, we're all a part of the same body. Christ doesn't have
many different bodies. He has many different local assemblies,
but all of those local assemblies over the whole face of this globe
is all one body. We should receive one another
that way. That way. Thirdly, it's obedience
constrained by love, not law. You know what he said? whom I
would have retained with me, that in thy stead he might have
ministered unto me in the bonds of the gospel. Without thy mind
I would do nothing, that thy benefit should not be as it were
of necessity, but willingly. And he goes on to say, Philemon,
I believe you'll do this. Because your reputation precedes
you. You've done this before for others, I'm sure. Don't you
think? We're all Onesimuses in some
way or another. Everybody gathered in Philemon's
house, he knew, they're sinners just like I was. Isn't that good
hope for Onesimus? Isn't that good hope for, are
you an Onesimus? That's the question. Don't worry
about whether you're a Philemon yet or not, are you an Onesimus
first? Because Philemon was an Onesimus
of some sort before he became the Philemon Paul knows now.
Now did you get that deep doctrinal statement? But that's the truth. That's the truth. And here's
another one. example and illustration of the
reign of grace. The reign of grace covers a multitude of sins.
I already mentioned that to you. Paul didn't say, you gotta watch
him though. Now he did that, twice burned,
that's my fault. Paul said, mm-hmm, that's back
yonder and we don't even mention it. It happened, yeah, we'll
acknowledge it happened, but Mason, we're not going into details.
You see that? I can see me now writing a letter
like this, and I'd be, okay, well, he did this to you, and
he did, so you better watch this, and you better watch that. Huh? This is what Paul was doing,
was it? True love, oh, how that makes
me see how shortcoming I am. True love covers a multitude
of, my wife and I are, we don't put up big, religious verses
and stuff, but we do have one plaque concerning our, when we
were married, our date, and that helps me out on our anniversaries.
It's sitting right there where I can see it. But there is a
quote there. Love covers, not denies, not
tries to self-justify, but love covers a multitude of sins. That's
why if somebody comes to me and says, would you hear what Joe
did? I pray God, I say, I don't care what Joe did. I don't wanna
hear what Joe did. And that's the way we are to
conduct ourselves with one another every day, not just on Sunday
when we show up here all holy and ready to worship. Right? Here's another one. It makes
enemies to be more than friends. Onesimus was an enemy to Philemon.
By law, Onesimus probably could have gotten us in big trouble.
We don't know. Mason were not even told any of those details.
But here's the point, true saving grace, free reigning grace makes
enemies to be more than friends. You receive him as a beloved
brother. Here's the sixth one. It actually
changed, Onesimus. I mean, it's a real change, folks.
This ain't just a starting to believe some different doctrines.
I know, sadly, I'm afraid, let me put it that way. I'm afraid
I know people, they've just changed doctrines. or they just got the
right doctrine now. And they'll staunch in that doctrine,
but it don't affect their lives at all. This affected Onesimus'
life. It affected Paul's life of how
Onesimus was affected. And it affected Philemon's life
as in the case of what Onesimus has been affected. And it affected
all three of them, and everybody else mentioned here, and it's
affecting us today. Today. I mean, if you can read
this and you just say, well, boy, what a letter. I feel for
you. I'm talking about just a you
small group right here now. If you can read this and it don't, I'm not saying you gotta cry,
I don't mean that, but it don't make you say, oh God, thank you
for your grace, the grace that Christ showed to us. And the
grace that you enable us to show to one another. If that don't
affect you, you just don't know the grace of God yet. I care
about you, but you just don't know it yet. It changed Onesimus. And second, and last of all,
number seven, it's substitution. Paul says, I like this. Verse
18, if he hath wronged thee, and remember, he had wronged
him. This is not an if of possibility.
It's just an if of I'm not going into the details of it. That's
what he's talking about. If he hath wronged thee, or oweth
thee aught. Oh, isn't this a glorious thing?
Put that on my account. I, Paul, have written it with
mine own hand. I will repay. Isn't that glorious? Folks, that's
what Jesus Christ did for us with the father. We wronged him
and we owe him our very souls in hell forever. Jesus Christ
told the father, they've wronged you. They owe you their very
soul. Therefore, he willingly, lovingly,
compassionately, mercifully, what? His soul was made sin for
us. Why? That we might be made the
righteousness of God in him. Paul said, when Old Nesbitt shows
up with that letter in his hand, he said, you lay a hold of him
just like you lay a hold of me. Brothers and sisters, by God's
grace, he's done it already now, but we'll experience it in its
fullest extent one day. And when we enter into glory,
whether it's by death or whether it's when Christ returns again,
we will be received fully by God, Jesus Christ having paid
all our debt. And God the Father will embrace
us just like he embraces his holy, righteous son. Isn't that good? Now if that
don't boil your water, your water, your pot's dry. That's just all
there is to it. You've got a dry pot. I pray
God fills your pot with water and that message grips your soul.
And if it ever does, Joe, if he ever visits you, you won't
be able to get away from it. Well, you might even try, but
you won't be able to get away from it. Father, bless us as
we continue here. May we have a enjoyable time
of not only a fellowship of eating and talking together, but fellowship
in your truth, rejoicing in your son. In Christ's name, amen.