Grace Beyond Words

Some things are worth repeating. That scripture is worth repeating. The song that we sang that Brad mentioned about the writer of it, I didn't happen to notice that this morning. That song brings with it many emotions. One is Do I really love the Lord? And we sing it with confidence because when we look for our own love for the Lord Jesus Christ, it's always gonna come so far short that we question it. But when we think about the objects of his love and we think about his own love for us, then we realize that how could we not love him? And God has persuaded us by his grace that we are the objects of his love because we have nothing except what should condemn us. And yet he has shown us Christ who is the one who saves his people from their sins.

What a blessing that is. And yes, it's amazing. 27 years old, I hadn't noticed that before. William Featherston wrote this hymn. I heard it many times growing up as a kid, I'm sure. But I only heard it for the first time at a funeral. And the man who had died and the funeral was for him was about 30 years old. And he had children. And he was a believer.

And I think about this hymn because the words that move me most, I suppose, is when he says, I love thee in life and I will love thee in death. And praise thee as long as thou lendest me breath. And say when the death dew lies cold on my brow. if ever I love thee, my Jesus, just now. And that's why I think that our love in this life for the Lord Jesus Christ falls so far short. But there's coming a day when this corruption is gonna put on incorruption and this mortality, immortality, and then in the full vigor of the life of Christ, in our body, then we will be able to sing this as it ought to be sung. All right, turn to Philemon, if you will, sorry.

Philemon, I don't know, I always planned that this would be the last sermon in Philemon, but I hope that it is, because I don't want to weary you, but I also know that This book, if I could say this about this book, this book really contains the whole gospel in such a way that it's so clear.

It's so clear that if you remember last week where we read in Genesis 44, Brad read that so well. By the way, Phil, I'm thankful for you. I am able to sit back there and sing these songs, you know, without wondering what people are looking at when I'm back there. So thank you for that service. But I appreciate Brad's reading of Genesis 44 last week.

As I said then, I think that's the most moving, perhaps the most moving text of scripture. It happens that when you read a text of scripture, you think this is the epitome. And then you've come to something else. No, this is it over here, so. Genesis 44 is one of those, but I think this morning for me, Philemon is that chapter, that text of scripture.

And I always ask the Lord to speak to your hearts, and I feel inadequate beyond words, but I've changed the title of today's message. In the bulletin, I wrote Christ's plea for me, and that's a good title, I think, but after thinking about this and this morning, I was thinking again about it, I've changed the title to Grace Beyond Words. Grace Beyond Words. And perhaps if I had given it that title at the beginning, I would have chosen that hymn that we love to sing, Grace Greater Than My Sins.

Because this chapter of scripture is about grace. Oh, the grace of God that flows to us from these words here. The Apostle Paul spoke out of the abundance of his heart. Jesus said, a man will say what's in his heart. The Apostle Paul spoke of grace. And he was gracious in how he spoke of grace.

This is noted by many of the commentators on it that it is perhaps the most eloquent literature in all of history, and that's how significant this book was, even in the esteem of men of literature. But in the terms of the content of the letter, it's the most tender letter that you could imagine that could ever have been written, and it's also concise. And so we want to try to be concise, but at the same time, we need to somehow convey the heart of grace in this letter and the tenderness with which God delivers it through the apostle Paul.

This is not a unique way of addressing God's people, but in verse three, Paul says to Philemon and to these others, which include Apphia, Archippus and the church that was in Philemon's house. And he's writing with Timothy, but he's especially writing as the apostle Paul.

And he says, grace to you and peace from God, our father and the Lord Jesus Christ. We always read those words so quickly and go over them so fast that they just go over our head. But realize that whenever the apostle was speaking, he was speaking as one sent by Christ to his church. And this is the message from heaven to the Lord's people. Grace to you and peace. From God, our father and the Lord Jesus Christ. And that is a message we need to hear. That is a message we long to hear as a sinner, don't you?

The other thing about this letter is it's a very personal letter. It's a letter of grace and it's personal. Paul wrote it. He wrote it about a single slave, Onesimus, and he wrote it to a single slave owner, Philemon. It was a personal letter. And perhaps that's why it's so short in all the other letters of Paul. But he didn't just write it to Philemon because he also included those he mentions here, primarily the church. The church in Philemon's house and therefore the church at large, the church over time, us. Because the apostle never wrote just a private letter, by the spirit of God it was included in the scriptures.

And so we know this is written to us. And therefore, like a hungry beggar or like a desperate and dying sinner, we grab hold of it, don't we? We hear it and we lay hold on it. This is for me. It's like that man who's been under the load of sin. facing certain condemnation and the exposure of all that he is before God in judgment with no answer, and he hears the gospel for the first time, and he says, mine. That's what this is about. It's personal. So the other thing I want to say about this letter is that it's about salvation. This letter is about salvation. Onesimus was a slave, a Gentile slave.

Now in the Old Testament, and this is important because the Old Testament is the law, it reveals God's requirements. And in God's requirements, it was a requirement that one Israelite could not hold another Israelite as a slave. It was forbidden. If a brother waxed old, I mean poor, not old, poor, perhaps he was poor because he was old, but he waxed poor. He came into financial distress. He could sell himself to work for his brother, another Israelite.

But in the law, and that's found in Leviticus chapter 25, but in the law God also said, you shall not compel him to serve as a bond servant. A bond servant was someone who was held as a slave against their will. Held not as a hired servant, but one whose rights had been taken away, if we can say it that way, his rights were taken from him.

If a prisoner, if someone commits a crime, let's say they've committed murder, their rights are taken from them as a person. They're locked up. They don't have liberties, not as a free man. And in our land, those rarely end in capital punishment, but nevertheless, a prisoner has no rights. A slave has no rights. but not because he's committed a crime, but because he was just made a slave. Now, it was forbidden by God that a brother in the Old Testament could be a slave. If I became poor, God would forbid Brad to hold me as his slave, not that he would want to. I may say, I need to eat, and I'll do whatever you need done in order that I might eat. Fine, that's fair enough.

But even then, even then, The terms of service were limited to six years. In Exodus 21, if you buy a Hebrew servant, six years he shall serve, and in the seventh he'll go out free for nothing. He's a Hebrew servant. There was another law also. At the end of every seven years, you shall make a release in Deuteronomy chapter 15. So these are things in God's law. An Israelite servant normally served six years and in the seventh year was released. But even broader protection was provided in God's law.

He said, in the year of Jubilee, the 50th year, every 50 years, it didn't matter if that time of seven years, six years had elapsed. In the year of Jubilee, every slave was set free. Every Hebrew slave was set free. And all the land that had been held because of a debt, that was released as well. So the land was released, they were released. And everything was returned. All the relationships were restored to what they were before.

And then the other thing in the law was that if you did have an Israelite brother who was your indebted slave or servant, you could not rule him harshly. It says in Leviticus 25, thou shalt not rule over him with rigor, not harshly. And here's the reason. Because this is why God did these things in the law. He's foreshadowing something.

But in the law, you could not hold a brother Hebrew a slave because God had purchased him already. In Egypt, the Egyptians held all the nation of Israel slaves. But God redeemed, He purchased that nation out of that slavery, that bondage in Egypt. It was cruel. They had no rights. They were made to serve with rigor. And God purchased them out of Egypt. And you remember that purchase price?

It was the blood of the Passover lamb. Now, the other thing about this release that would eventually happen between the Hebrews when they had someone who was indebted to them is that the release was to be generously granted. He says in Deuteronomy 15, thou shalt furnish him liberally out of thy flock, out of thy floor, and out of thy winepress. Whatever you have, either your flock or your wine, either the threshing floor or the wine press, you give to that Hebrew liberally when you set him free. Okay, these things are all typical, aren't they? They all are given as living pictures of the gospel truth.

Now, Onesimus was not a Hebrew, and Philemon was not a Hebrew. But Philemon had Nilnissimus as his slave, not as an indebted servant, but as a slave whose rights, he had no rights. And so in the Old Testament, it says that foreigners or aliens as slaves were treated differently. So that Israelites could acquire a servant from another nation, And they could even pass them on as an inheritance to their descendants. So there were different regulations governing the foreign slave, the alien, than there were the Israelite, the Hebrew servant.

And so we see that in the account of Philemon, Onesimus as a Gentile has no rights under the Roman law. And as a picture, as a picture of God's people, we also as Gentiles had no rights. And we were disobedient, just like Onesimus. He departed from Philemon.

And perhaps, as I mentioned last time, he took something. He robbed him, perhaps because of what Paul said, if he owes you anything, I will repay it. Onesimus was a Gentile, and by God's law, he could be treated as an ordinary slave by another Hebrew. That's what makes this letter so significant, because he was a departed slave, lawfully held as a slave under Roman law, and even in the Old Testament law, as a slave to a Hebrew, he could be held as a slave. But notice the grace that flows from the pen of the apostle out of his heart, inspired by the Holy Spirit, because this is the heart of God.

What Paul writes is not something fantastic about Paul. Everything written in scripture is to teach us God's own mind in the matter. And so that's what Paul is doing here. He is exemplifying the truth that had been implanted in him. He had internalized it and it had become his meditation and his thought process, his attitudes, his life, everything was shaped by it, the gospel of Christ. And so that's why the grace comes so overflowingly and so tenderly from his pen concerning Onesimus.

Now, last time we left off at verse 10, and I want you to back up just to verse nine. He says, yet for love's sake. Paul is writing to Philemon. Philemon is clearly not an apostle. An apostle had authority in the spiritual things, in things concerning Christ. He had authority in the church, but he doesn't use his authority. He never mentions that authority in order to motivate Philemon. Rather, he treats him as a fellow. He treats him as a partner, a fellow partaker of the grace of God. And he appeals to him as a peer. In fact, Paul is a prisoner against his will, kept from that liberty that normal freemen have.

And being in this situation and having the weight of the stewardship of the gospel to all of the Gentiles, you can imagine how weak he felt in that condition. And yet he takes time, not just a little, but a lot of thought concerning Onesimus. And he writes to Philemon with those thoughts in his mind. And so he says to him in verse eight, though I might be much bold in Christ to enjoin thee, to require this, that which is convenient, he means what's proper. He doesn't mean like it's gonna be more convenient for you. Things that are convenient are like TVs and computers. He's not talking about that. He's talking about what's right, what's proper. He said, I might be bold in Christ to command you to do what's right.

And I'm paraphrasing it. Yet for love's sake, I rather beseech thee, being such a one as Paul, the aged, and now also a prisoner of Jesus Christ. My master, Christ. My condition, a prisoner and old. And now notice how he's building this up. It's a moving. text of scripture. Verse 10, perhaps one of the most moving verses in this book. He says, I beseech thee. This is not a posture of command. I entreat. I beseech thee. And in the original, I'm going to read it in a different order because the word order is important. He wants these ideas to be in Philemon's mind before he announces what he's talking about.

He says in verse 10, I beseech thee for my son, whom I have begotten in my bonds, Onesimus. That's the way it should be read because that's the exact order in the original. I'm begging you for my son. The one begotten in my old age, Onesimus. You see the weight, how it carries the, this is a literary skill, of course, but it wasn't a literary skill. It was designed by the Holy Spirit to add weight to what he's saying. I, Paul, your fellow laborer, fellow prisoner, Philemon wasn't a prisoner, for Jesus Christ, for the gospel's sake, for the church of God, By the grace given to me, I beg you for my son, the one I have begotten in my old age, Onesimus.

He names him for the first time in this letter. Philemon knew Onesimus. He probably had some resentment against him. So in this sense, Paul is bringing reconciliation. He's about to bring reconciliation, but he doesn't do it with a hammer. He does it with mercy. He does it with grace. He does it by appealing to Philemon concerning the grace shown to him.

This is that fellowship we talked about. Fellowship means that because of the Lord Jesus Christ, because of the gospel, we relish, we take communion, We have fellowship with God, the Father and the Son, over His Son. Sacrifice for us, the Lamb of God. We all partake of what delights God, the sacrifice of His Son for sinners. And we also, with others who also believe, this is that fellowship. Faith causes us to partake of the same entire truth. And now he's beseeching him as a fellow in this fellowship concerning Onesimus, my son.

Now, Paul didn't have Onesimus biologically to be his son. He wasn't a son by biology. And it wasn't like the Catholic Church where the priests call their subjects, my son or whatever they call them. They like to be called father, as Jesus told the Pharisees, you like to be called father, Nomad, no, he said, don't call any man on earth father.

But here, Paul calls Onesimus his son because through the seed of the gospel, God birthed Onesimus as his child. He was a child, a son of God by spiritual birth through the seed of the word of God, the spirit of God. You can't separate the two, the spirit of God, the word of God, the seed by which God births his spirit in us because of Christ's blood shed for us.

That's what he's talking about. I read an article, this is an aside, by Paul Mahan that was in someone else's bulletin. And I think it was Larry Chris's. And Paul Mahan said, Noah preached 100 plus years, 120, I believe. He was a preacher of righteousness. You know how many people he preached to? The whole world all heard him. How many of them were saved? None. Now that's amazing to preach 120 years and nobody be saved. But you know what?

There were seven others on the boat, the ark. You think during that flood they were talking about something like the righteousness and the atoning blood of Christ, the judgment of God poured out on Christ that they might be delivered? And so even though Noah preached for those hundreds of years, he preached to his family for those seven people, and they heard it.

And that's a comfort, isn't it? Here, the apostle is preaching to Philemon. He's preaching to him in such a way that it's effective, it's effective. He said in verse six that the koinonia, the fellowship of thy faith, the faith of the gospel that he was teaching and preaching, Philemon, may become effectual. It would accomplish God's will by the acknowledging of every good thing, the discerning, that means acknowledging really it should be discerning that those who hear the gospel discern that Jesus Christ has given this to you for us. And so the apostle speaks that way concerning my son, Onesimus, born of God. Through the ministry of the gospel that Christ gave to Paul to preach, God, by his grace, saved Onesimus. He opened his heart to hear the gospel.

He made Christ precious to Onesimus. Now, as I mentioned, Onesimus was a slave. He was a runaway slave, and perhaps he stole. In this account, he typifies every believer. We all were Gentiles after the flesh. We all were legally bound as slaves whose rights should have been taken from us. We also departed. Each one of us went our own way.

And Onesimus says nothing in this letter. He doesn't speak up. And this is another aspect to this letter I think is so significant is that Paul writes it concerning Onesimus to Philemon, and then he gives it to Onesimus to take to Philemon. I remember the first time we went over this book in scripture, it did then occur to me for the first time that Onesimus must have come to Philemon with that letter in his hand. It's all I have to say. It's the words of my advocate. my intercessor, my surety. And they're tender words to you. I have nothing to say. I don't plead my innocence. I don't plead my rights. I don't plead anything. But listen to what he has to say. Isn't that the way we come to God? Hear me, O Lord, for Christ's sake. Isn't that what Jesus told his disciples? Ask in my name.

So Onesimus is the object of this grace, shown to him by the apostle in this letter to Philemon. So he says to Philemon, I beseech you, for my son whom I've begotten in my bonds, Onesimus, which in time past was To thee, unprofitable as we were to God, we did not fulfill that mandate to give glory to God as we were created. We were unprofitable, but now profitable to thee and to me. Oh, do you hear the abundance of God's grace overflowing in that statement? If the apostle Paul spoke of this, of this grace concerning Onesimus to Philemon, how much more did the son of God speak in grace concerning his people to his father? He says, in time past, not profitable to you, but now profitable to you and to me.

The Lord Jesus Christ, There's a song Denise and I heard. I'm embarrassed a little bit to mention it. It came from a movie and in the phrase of this song it says, never enough, never enough, never enough. You know, scripture says that about man's lust in Proverbs chapter 27. I want to read these words to you. This is a contrasting text of scripture to what I'm about to say. He says in Proverbs 27, hell and destruction are never full. So the eyes of man are never satisfied. Now, the lust of our heart says this all the time, never enough. There's nothing you can do, nothing I can do, to serve myself enough. I'll never be satisfied.

I should occupy the throne of worship. That's called idolatry. Self-preference, self-service in place of God. But that's the lust of man. This is who we are, this is what we do, this is the way we think, this is the way we behave, our attitudes, our mind, our motives, our intentions. But notice the complete 180 degree opposite approach of the Lord Jesus Christ.

He didn't say concerning himself, never enough. He said there's never too much that he would give to have a people for himself in the holiness of his own righteousness, clothing them before him in love, and to give them all that he has, never enough. Never enough, but it was enough for him to give all that he had, that we could have all that was his. And so we see this here, the apostle says, he was unprofitable to you, now he's profitable to you and to me.

Why? Because he was a man chosen of God, a man whose heart the Lord opened, a man for whom Christ died, a man upon whom the everlasting love of God had been set from all eternity and there was no changing it. And God would have the object of his love And so when the apostle Paul writes this to Philemon, it seems as if Philemon might be a reluctant participant. But with God, there was no reluctance. Philemon might have thought at the outset, ill thoughts against Onesimus, but that only heightens the fact that we deserved ill thoughts from God. But the letter here reconciles Onesimus to Philemon. in the way that he reminds Philemon of his love for Onesimus, of Paul's love for Onesimus, and God's love for Onesimus, and Christ's love for Onesimus, and therefore, out of this grace shown to Philemon, the same love he would love also Onesimus. And so he said this concerning him. He was unprofitable, but now profitable.

And he says in verse 12, whom I have sent again, Thou therefore, now notice the power of these words, receive him that is my own bowels. What are our own bowels? That's us. Our own bowels means us. He's saying he's one with me. He's part of me. He's the nearest and dearest part of me. The Lord Jesus Christ says he's one with his people. You can't separate them.

Nothing can separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Nothing. Not present things, not future things, not life, not death, not things to come, not tribulation, not persecution, not peril, nor sword. Not the accusations of the devil or the world, not even our own sin, because God has justified us because of the blood of his son. Nothing can separate us.

We're one with Christ. And that union with Christ was made by God. Of him are you in Christ Jesus. And God made it such a way that all that Christ is, he made that ours in him. Of him are you in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption.

And so Paul says, receive him mine own bowels. Onesimus, the son begotten by God through the gospel in my old age, dearer to me than a biological son. Onesimus, my son, receive him as my own bowels. Receive him as me. because they were one in the gospel. Verse 13, whom I would have retained with me, that in thy stead he might have ministered to me in the bonds of the gospel. I could have kept him, but I'm not going to, because his return will have a greater lesson. His return to you as his former master. I have begotten him in the bonds of the gospel, and he is ministered to me in the bonds of the gospel.

This bond of the gospel that binds us together, this is a very near bond, isn't it? It's nearer than flesh and blood. It's the spirit. The gospel is called the spirit. And the gospel is the whole truth about God. And we have been immersed into this gospel by the Spirit of God. We have been put into Christ and baptized into Jesus Christ. And His gospel has become our own heart, the way we think, what we desire.

We want this. We love this. As Brad was saying earlier, we love God's righteousness. We love his justice. We see it in Christ. It's beautiful. This is God's glory, his forgiveness of our sins, his redemption by his blood, the reconciliation he made by the death of his son, the pleadings of our surety as our intercessor and advocate. We love this, don't we? It's necessary. But he says, I would have retained him here because he was helping me.

But, verse 14, without thy mind would I do nothing. You see, when Jesus came into the world, he spoke often of his father. He says, the words that I speak to you are not mine, they're my father's. The work that I do is not mine, it's my father's. I didn't send myself, he sent me. This is very, very important in Christ's ministry. Here the apostle says, I won't do anything without your consent.

He's speaking to him. as his peer, isn't he? And yet he's stooping below. He who is equal with God thought it not robbery to be made equal with God, but he made himself of no reputation. Why? Because to the father, it seemed good in bringing many sons to glory to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings. That was the will, the father's will to bring many sons to glory. But it was Christ's will also, so he speaks this way. I won't do anything without your mind. Verse 14. I won't do anything without your mind. That thy benefit should not be as it were of necessity, but willingly.

No one influences God. No one can give a reason for God to act. God finds reason in himself alone. That's why whatever he does reflects his character. And that's why it's so essential that God glorify himself, because if he didn't glorify himself, then he would leave someone else to be guest. Everyone would be looking for someone else to receive the honor that they want to give in idolatrous. But God says, no, only one deserves this glory. It's my son. And seeing him, you see God's glory. So the benefit here would be made known because God's glory is going to be made known in our salvation. Willing, voluntarily, sacrificially.

In verse 15, the apostle Paul says, for perhaps he therefore departed for a season. So Onesimus clearly left. And you might think, well, that rascal, He left me, I was providing his food and he left me. I should accost him and take him and deal with him according to the law.

No, no. He says, listen, perhaps according to the will of God, which makes it an eternal purpose because it's God's will and God does nothing but what is eternal. Perhaps, therefore, he departed for a season that thou shouldst receive him forever. Sometimes as parents, our children in our homes hear the gospel, we long for nothing more that they would be the Lord's, that they would know the Lord Jesus Christ. And then they leave and they're wayward. Perhaps he departed for a season that you should receive him forever.

In the case of parents, we don't know God's will. We know his heart, though, don't we? He's a God of grace, the God of all grace, riches in mercy. And we pray, Lord, make this one that is my child, your child, which has to be an eternal act. But here I am praying in time. And I don't understand the way you work, but I know that you accomplish your will consistent with the prayers you move us to pray. Perhaps he departed for a season that you should receive him forever.

And yet the Lord Jesus Christ, in fulfillment of these things, because he fulfills all that we read about in the Old Testament, Perhaps he speaks here of God's eternal will, like Joseph did concerning himself in suffering for his brothers, that God meant it for good. You meant it for evil, God meant it for good. Perhaps this is God's will. What a will of God. He reminds Philemon of this, God's overarching eternal will of good and grace in his providence.

We look at our lives, What do we see? God bringing us to himself, don't we? Here we are today, maybe yesterday and tomorrow, and we're relishing in the fact that God has shown us this mercy and this truth in our lives. It wasn't always so, was it? We were dead in sins and the Lord brought us out of that. Why did he wait so long for his glory to show us the infinite measure of his grace? He says in verse 16, not now as a servant, not as a slave, but above a slave, a brother, beloved. Loved of God, loved by me, he says, especially to me, and how much more to thee, both in the flesh and in the Lord.

When Onesimus was with Philemon in the flesh, He would serve, perhaps reluctantly, and eventually left. But now, Onesimus, because of God's grace to him, sent by Paul also, knowing this was God's will, he returns to Philemon. As a man, he would have been profitable. Here he is a willing man. He's willing to return and to serve Philemon.

But how much more as a brother beloved. All men are brethren of one blood by Adam, but some of them are brothers by the Spirit of God in Christ. And that's what he's talking about here. How much more to thee in the flesh underscore in the Lord. In verse 17, he says, if thou count me therefore a partner, not as a superior, he stoops again as a partner, receive him as myself, or receive him as me.

This is phenomenal. This is beyond words, grace beyond words. It is the will of God. to save his people from their sins. He accomplished that will in the blood of his son. But that will doesn't stop by a deliverance merely from the guilt of our sins or the punishment our sins deserve, but a restoration way beyond what the law ever required. A restoration that only grace could imagine, if you would put it that way. Where sin abounded, grace did much more abound. When we ask the Lord for things, he says he's able to do exceeding, abundantly, above all that we ask or think.

My thoughts are not your thoughts. My ways are not your ways. As the heaven is higher than the earth, so much higher are my thoughts than your thoughts, saith the Lord. If you count me a partner, then here it is. Receive him as me. Here's this poor, wayward, lost, ruined, dying, plagued sinner, bound, all of his rights rightly taken from him. And the Lord Jesus Christ himself steps forward in eternal engagements with his Father I will be surety for him. I'll bring him back to you again. And if I don't, I'll bear the blame forever."

And that was in the heart of God. He simply expressed what was in his father's heart. And that's why God the Father took so much delight in the sacrifice of his son. It went so far beyond what the law could ever require. And it accomplished so much more than compensation the law would give. Because in reward for our, the debt we owed was paid in full compensation. And the reward Christ deserved was lavishly, abundantly given to us. Paul said, I have begotten him in my old age as my son.

Who is praying for us? Who enters heaven for us and appears in the presence of God for us, but God's only begotten son? What is the answer to his prayer? God not only delivers us as a slave held in debt because a payment was made, But he brings us to himself as his own children, as Christ, as his sons.

God has sent forth the spirit of his son into our hearts, crying, my father, Abba, father. And so we see here Paul, like the Lord Jesus for his people, interceding, advocating, and pleading. But he goes on. If he has wronged thee or oweth thee aught, put it on my account.

You see, God is not going to forgive sin unconditionally. There's always a condition. But the condition is so high that we could never understand the payment required. God is so holy that an offense by such a lowly, insignificant creature as we are against such a high and holy God requires such a payment that the wages of sin is eternal death and it's never enough.

And yet the Lord Jesus Christ in his blood gave not only what was required to compensate God so that God's law was satisfied, but his blood also justified us. His blood also brought us into the presence of God in all of his glory, in peace, clothed in his righteousness, in everlasting righteousness. So he talks here about Charge me, impute to me his wrong, and receive from me the payment due from him. Take account in me for the accounting he deserves to give, he must give.

He can't give it, I'll give it. He can't pay it, I'll pay it. He can't plead. He has nothing. I'll plead for him. What will you plead? Myself. How? Myself offered. For him? To you. And remember Joseph's delight. When Judah thus pleaded, he saw the law of God was overwhelmed. This, this is the heart of God revealed. Put it on my account. I, Paul, have written it with my own hand. There was an everlasting covenant established by God the Father and God the Son concerning his people, and it was written, it's called the Lamb's Book of Life. The blood of the Lamb. This is our fellowship with him, isn't it?

Albeit, I do not say to thee how thou owest unto me even thine own self besides. Now, certainly Philemon, because of Paul's relationship to him as an apostle and minister of the gospel, and perhaps in other ways, owed Paul much. With all the ministry that Philemon had in the house, it was all coming through the apostle from Christ. In that sense, he owed him much. And I don't really know how to deal with that in terms of the Lord Jesus Christ and his father.

But I do know this, that the desire of the son is that he would have his people with himself. This is my desire. I will that they also whom thou has given me be with me where I am, that they may behold my glory, which thou has given me. Remember John 17. And so the Lord Jesus prays the same way to his father. And there's a mutual a mutual admiration in the Godhead. And I'm not going to try to dive into it there, but suffice it to say that the mystery of the gospel in some sense remains a mystery. Let's go on.

He says, Yea, brother, let me have joy of thee in the Lord. Refresh my bowels in the Lord. He had said earlier that by Philemon's ministry in the gospel, the bowels of the saints are refreshed by thee, brother. And now he says, refresh my bowels, receive him.

This is that satisfaction that comes to Christ when God the Father receives us for Christ's sake alone. and gives to us to be with Him in glory. And the Lord Jesus Christ has His people, and this is enough for Him. To give them what is His, by His blood shed for them, by His eternal love, His grace beyond words, this is the revelation of who He is.

He is our Redeemer. our Redeemer, our near kinsman. He, the Word, the eternal Word was made flesh to be our near kinsman. He redeemed us at the price of his own blood. He endured the curse. Our sins deserve from God in us. He took it away by taking it upon himself. He bore our sins in his own body on the tree that we, being dead to sins, might live unto righteousness. By his stripes we're healed.

All these things speak of the substitution of our surety in his pleadings to God. He pleads himself, doesn't he? The lamb freshly slaughtered, always fresh to God, always a great delight that he would receive us for Christ's sake. This is the only reason, but it is the all sufficient one, isn't it? What a blessing this is.

And then he mentions this, with all prepare me also a lodging for I trust that through your prayers I shall be given to you. I don't want to skip verse 21. Having confidence in thy obedience, I wrote to thee knowing that thou also will do more than I say. Has God done more? Has He done more than we ever could think or ask? Is His grace beyond anything our sins could ever have imagined that we could deserve?

He has lifted us, as 1 Samuel 2 says, from the dunghill to sit with princes. And that's just a shadow of the truth. The truth is that He's taken us from the depths of ruin and sin. and eternal condemnation, and he's brought us into his presence in the holiness and the righteousness of Christ as his dear children, one, married to his son.

Eternal ages are too short to sing, my Jesus, I love thee. Let's pray. Father, we thank you for your word. Thank you for the Lord Jesus. We take this letter in our hands and we bring it to you and ask you to hear him for us. And we rejoice that you would rejoice over him offered and he would rejoice over us whom he has now purchased with his blood to have as his own and present us in the presence of God in all of his glory in his own righteousness. What a blessing. Beyond words, grace, infinite grace only God's own character can measure. Thank you for this grace, Lord. We pray that you would be with us now as we partake of this supper that you've designed for us. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.

Grace Beyond Words

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Grace Beyond Words

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