Now, this story will fit every
one of us who believe the gospel. It fits every one of God's children. Every one of us can be named
Onesimus. Onesimus. Now, we have in this
brief chapter a very rich gospel message, one of good news, one
of a sinner sinning and the Lord saving. The Lord saving. I find hope for sinners in this
chapter, and I find hope for me once again. Once again, I find hope for me
Through the grace of God in this chapter, my name is Onesimus. Let me give you this story here.
I've just read it to you, but let me give it to you again.
Philemon lived at Colossae, and evidently
he was a wealthy man. He was a man that had service.
And Philemon heard the apostle Paul preach the gospel when he
was at Colossae. And Philemon opened up his home.
The gospel will do that to you. It'll do that to you. It'll open
up everything you've got, your wallet, your home, everything. And he opened up his home and
Paul said to church, he says in verse 2, he was, and to our
beloved Actaea, And Archippus, our fellow soldier, entered the
church in the house. They met in his house. Paul preached in that man's house.
And I have no doubt that when Paul preached in his house that
Philemon had his family, his friends, and his servants to
gather together to hear the Apostle Paul preach. I have no doubt
Onesimus Heard the Apostle Paul preached in Colossae. I have
no doubt about that. Well, God saved this man Philemon. And as I said, he had these servants.
And one of them, one of these servants was an absolute rebel.
Rebel. He was a servant now. He was
a slave. That means, you know, back then you became a slave
because you couldn't pay your debts. You were indebted and
you couldn't pay, so you would And, you know, you serve and
try to work that off. Well, Onesimus didn't like his
master. I mean, the Lord saved this man
Philemon, and we know here just by what we read about this man,
about his love, the communication of his love and his faith, and
he opened up his home and he had the gospel priest in his
home. Well, I believe this man I don't know what he was before
the Lord saved him, but I'll tell you this, I know what he was
after the Lord saved him. But Onesimus didn't like him. Onesimus
didn't like him as a master at all. His ear was not bored. It was not bored. He yearned Onesimus like that
prodigal son. He said, give me my inheritance.
And he took off and he squandered it away to the point where he
was actually down there with the pigs. Slopping with the pigs.
And Onesimus, he didn't like his master. So he got up one
night and slipped out. Got on a horse and just slipped
out of town. And he went to Rome. You see,
he went to the big city lights. His heart was after, that's what
his heart was after. He was after the lust of his
flesh. He wanted to fulfill, this man
wanted to fulfill the lust of his flesh. To him, freedom was
being able to go to Rome and live like he wanted to. Which
was, in his case, like the prodigal son. You know, just wasted it.
Wasted it. And going to Rome, you know how
far Rome was from Colossae? A thousand miles. It was about
a thousand miles from Colossae to Rome is what I've read. He
wandered as far away from his master as He could get. And I tell you, when I read that
and was reading this, I thought, that's me by nature, that's you
by nature. We want as far away from God,
the true God, the only God there is. We want as far away from
Him as we can get, don't we? We want to go to Rome. We want
to go to Rome. Well, God's providence is in
this, as it is in all things. So he takes off and he goes to
Rome to get as far away from his master as he could. He knows,
listen, he knows that in Rome he can fulfill the lust of his
flesh like he wants to. He can't do it there at Colossae.
He has a master there. And he has a believing master,
and that makes it even worse. Because the world and the believer
have two different natures. Had two different goals. Had
two different loves. And except two agree, how can
they walk together? So it's not going to happen.
So he takes off to where it's more conducive to his nature.
That's what he goes after. But I tell you, God's guiding
this thing all along, isn't he? The Lord is guiding. His hand
is on him all along. The Lord knows where his sheep
are. He knows where they are. Even though Onesimus doesn't
know it, God's guiding him back to his servant Paul. I have no doubt he heard Paul
in Colossae. But why didn't God save him there?
There's only one reason I can give you. There was a time to
be born and there was a time to die. It was not his time to
be born at that time. It was not his time. He's going
to be born after he fulfills some of the lust of his flesh,
after God lets him go down. I mean, he runs away, he's guilty,
he's running from now his legal master, he's running from him.
But God's going to let him do it. He's going to let him go
a thousand miles away, a thousand miles. And he's going to run
into the same man he hurt preach the gospel there in Colossae.
After he goes to Rome and he squanders everything and gets
into whatever he gets into, he's going to run into the Apostle
Paul again. In prison. Paul's in prison. But he's going
to go and he's going to end up visiting the Apostle Paul. He's
going to hear the gospel. I can just see God's hand in
this. He's guiding, he's directing, he's letting this man have what
he thinks is his way. But really, he's on the path
that God has purposed him to be on in order to meet the Apostle
Paul. And he's going to go hear Paul,
and he's going to hear the gospel, and he's going to be saved. He leaves, listen, he leaves
that he might be received forever. He's allowed to run away that he might be received forever.
God allowed all His sheep to fall in at Him so that they might
be received forever in Christ. He allowed every one of us to
do this. He allowed every one of us to fall in at Him. Every
one of us. He allowed every one of us to
go our own way. Like sheep, we have gone our own ways. Well,
see that one, Isaiah 53. All we like sheep have gone our
own way. Well, that's for a while. That's for a while. until he
crosses our path and reveals Christ in us. Now, I want you to look in verse
10. We'll see Paul here as a type
of our Lord's intercession. He says in verse 10, I beseech
thee, I pray thee, for my son That's a strong word, isn't it? That's my son, my son in the
faith, and that's who he's praying for. I beseech thee for my son
Onesimus, whom I have begotten in my bonds. Did not Christ forget
us through his bonds? When God saved you, what was
the message? and Him crucified. Scripture
says we are begotten again with the word of truth and the word
of truth is the gospel and the gospel is Christ and Him crucified. It wasn't Christ the miracle
worker, it's Christ and Him crucified. You take away the cross. You
take away the bonds of Christ and no one's saved. No one. It's Christ and Him crucified.
And also notice this. This whole letter This whole
intercession is about one sinner who found grace in the eyes of
the Lord. He's not praying for the world.
He's praying for one sinner named Onesimus. Look over in John 17. In John 17, in verse 9, I pray for them. I pray not for
the world. He never has. If he did, he'd
get it. I pray for them. I pray not for
the world, but for them which thou hast given me, for they
are thine. Paul is interceding here for
one sinner whom the Lord has saved, Onesimus. Our Lord prays
in his intercessory prayer, he intercedes for his sheep. That's
who he prays for, his sheep. Which in time past, he says in
verse 11, which in time past was to thee unprofitable, worthless. Have you really ever seen yourself
worthless? Paul says this man Philemon,
This man Onesimus, the one I'm beseeching you over, you know
who he is. He's worthless. He's worthless. Well, that's us in Adam. That's
absolutely a good description of us in Adam. We have all sinned
in Adam. We've all sinned in ourselves.
We have all sinned and come short of the glory of God. You know,
the scripture says after we have done all that we should do and
do say this, you are still, we are still unprofitable servants. So don't be asking for a raise
or expecting rewards in heaven. If you're unprofitable, don't
be, don't, you know, people think they're going to get rewards
in heaven. He said, you've done all you should do, you're unprofitable
servants. All who are there, all who are
in glory are there by the merits and grace of another. You know that. But now listen,
here's the work of our Lord. But now profitable. But now profitable
to thee and to me. Profitable. I look that word
up. It means this. Fit for use. Isn't that such a beautiful word.
Fit for use. He that was worthless, he that
was fit for nothing, no doubt Onesimus caused him headaches,
Philemon. No doubt he grumbled and complained
about everything he had to do. And I'm sure that everything
he did, he probably did not do very well. His attitude was in
his work, I assure you. But now, he's sending him back
And he's saying to Philemon, he's profitable. He's this man
is now fit for use. Oh, I tell you, God is taking
something that was worthless and he has made it fit for use. In Christ. Now, I can tell you,
I can. I can tell you this based on
God's word in Christ, you're fit for use. In Christ, you're
profitable. In Christ, you're profitable
in the kingdom of God. We're profitable to each other.
We're not bringing God a profit, I know that. But we are fit for
the Master's use. He says here in verse 12, I've
got to hurry along here. Whom I have sinned again, thou
therefore receive him that is my own bow. Paul's heart's in
this prayer. If we could only comprehend the
heart and the passion that Christ intercedes for us with. We don't always pray with much
heart. Not always. I wish we did. But our Lord prays
with such passion, such love. Every time he intercedes, he
intercedes with such passion for his people. He says in 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. But
notice here in verse 14, But without thy mind would I do nothing. Note the oneness here. Christ said in John 17, I and
my Father are one. We are one. If there's anything
you can read in John 17, it's the oneness of Christ and the
Father, Christ and His people. He says here, I wouldn't do anything.
Listen, Paul could. He had the power as an apostle
to tell Philemon, you just receive him back and you treat him right. But he didn't do that. He beseeches
him for love's sake to receive this man. And He says, I wouldn't
do anything without your mind. Without your mind. Christ did
nothing of Himself. He spoke nothing of Himself. He said, as I hear, I speak. I speak. Everything He did was
according to His Father's will concerning us. Everything. He did nothing without the Father's
mind, without the Father's will in it. He did nothing. That's
what Paul said in his final Amen. But without thy mind I would
do nothing. I thought that's our Lord. He
did nothing that was not according to the will of the Father. He
always sought his Father's will. My need is to do the will of
him that sent me. For perhaps he therefore departed
for a season, that thou shouldest receive him forever." We left for a season. God let
every one of his sheep fall in at him and depart for a season,
every one of them. We all went our own way, but
there is a purpose in it. And what is that purpose? Here's
the purpose, that thou shouldest receive him forever, forever. The purpose of God allowing his
people to fall in Adam is that in Christ they might be received
forever, never to fall again. That'll never happen again. If Adam had not fallen, And we
know that's, you know, this is to make a point. If he had not
fallen, that would still be hanging over our head. Somebody would. God in his wisdom allowed all
of to happen in one man, Adam. So that salvation would happen
all in one man, Christ. That's the wisdom of God. That's
the wisdom of God. So the purpose of God allowing
us to fall in Adam is that we might be received in Christ forever and fit for the Master's use. Oh, I don't know what that new
heaven, new earth is going to be like. I'm telling you now,
we're not going to be floating around on a cloud playing a harp.
It's going to be busy. It's going to be a new earth
like this one. And we're going to be busy. Doing things. It's going to be without sin, which puts the sweat in work.
That's what puts the sweat in work. If you take sin out of
it, work would be a pleasure, wouldn't it? I think it would. I think it would be just as much
a pleasure as it would be if you were going out and playing
your favorite game. If you take sin out of it, you wouldn't have
to do it so many times over. If you take sin out of it, you'd
do it right the first time. And that's enjoyable when you
get it right the first time. For perhaps, Paul says here,
he departed for a season that you should receive him forever.
But now listen, not as a servant. You know, Christ doesn't pray
for us, intercede for us to the Father as servants. He intercedes
for us as what? Sons. Sons. that you might receive him forever,
not as a servant, but above a servant, a brother, beloved, especially
to me, but how much more to thee, both in the flesh and in the
Lord." But listen, God the Father has received us from the hands
of Christ, not as servants, but as sons. Now are you the sons
of God. Now, members of God's family,
members of that heavenly host of the redeemed. Now, he said,
if thou count me therefore a partner, receive him as myself. If you
count me as what? An equal, an equal. Our Lord over Philippians thought
it not equal, thought it not robbery to be equal with God.
If you count me as an equal, then receive Him. Receive Him as you receive me.
How has God the Father received Christ? Well, He received Him
openly, lovingly, fully, and that's exactly the way He has
received us in Christ. and you receive him, you receive,
have you received me, you receive him. Christ is no more loved. Now
listen, Christ is no more loved than those who are in Christ. No more. He loves, God loves
all those in Christ with the same love that he loves Christ
with. We can't comprehend that. Can't
comprehend that. You have children, you know.
We have children here. Parents, you love your children.
But you don't love the people down the road's children like
you do your own children, do you? I mean, they're your children. We are literally, not just written
down on a book, not just written in a book, but we are literally
the sons of God, the children of God in Christ. And we are loved as He is. If you count me a partner, then
you receive Him as you receive me. If you count me an equal,
and if He hath wronged thee, oh boy, If he had wronged thee,
Onesimus definitely wronged Philemon. Or, Oeth thee, if he's robbed
thee, put that on my account. Paul said, I'll be surety for
him. This is our Lord. Our Lord said, I'll be surety
for him. Charge me for his wrong. And if he's taken anything, done
anything, you lay that to my account. I'll pay for it. You
let him go. Don't you mention another word
to him. Paul tells Philemon, you don't say another word to
him. When he comes back to you, like that prodigal was received by
his father, he just ran out and put his arms around him and kissed
him. And Paul said, if he's done you wrong, if he robbed you,
I'll pay it. I'll pay it. Did our Lord not
do that? Did He not do that? Charge me
with their wrong. I will repay it, our Lord says. I'll make it right. I will make
it right. And He's the only one who can
make it right. He's the only one who can put
away sin. I cannot put away what I've done. I cannot undo what
I am. He can, and he did. He did. I, Paul, have written this with
my own hands. You have my word on it. Christ
has given his word. I'll repay it. And you can be
sure he'll keep his word, and he did at Calvary. He set his
face like a flint to go to Jerusalem, to die, to pay the debt that
Onesimus owed. All of us onesimuses. Yea, brother,
let me have joy of thee in the Lord. Refresh my vows in the
Lord. Christ's joy, His joy is our acceptance. When
He presents us holy, unblameable, unreprovable in His sight, He
will rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory. He will rejoice
over us. Having confidence in thy obedience,
I wrote unto thee, knowing that thou wilt also do more than I
say." Our Lord knew in John 17 in his intercessory prayer. He
said in one place, Father, I know thou always hearest me. I know you always hear me. He had absolute confidence in
his intercessory prayer. that what he prayed he would
get. The Father would do. He says, Father, I will that
those whom thou hast given me be with me where I am. You reckon
he'll get that? I tell you what, he has full
confidence that that will happen. Every one of them. Every last
one of them will be with him in glory. And every one of them,
every last one of them will behold His glory, the glory He had with
the Father before the world was. Having confidence, our Lord prayed
with absolute, perfect confidence that He was heard and He would
get what He asked for. Now, last of all, I want you
to notice again, once again, at the bottom of this epistle,
what it says. written from Rome to Philemon
by Onesimus, a servant. Paul dictated this letter. I know he says he wrote it with
his own hand, but he dictated this letter to Onesimus. Can
you imagine Onesimus writing this down as Paul was telling
it to him? Can you imagine the joy, the
joy this man had, this runaway slave, this rebel? Can you imagine
him writing this down? I just can't imagine the joy
that was there. What joy it brought to Onesimus. How much joy does
this bring to me and you? Right here. How much joy does the Word of
God bring to you and to me? But here's what I want to make
on this. Let us carry the Word of God
with us to the throne of grace. Here's our acceptance letter.
Here's our acceptance. Bring it with boldness. Bring
it with joy. We have in our laps and in our
hearts a letter. This thing called the Bible of
acceptance. On behalf now, on behalf of Christ. He didn't say anything about
Onesimus being worthy in and of himself, did he? He said, if you accept me, you
accept him. That's what he's saying. If you
receive me, You receive him. You receive
him just like you'd receive me. My, what oneness. Paul identified
himself with a crook. A slave, a crook, a liar. And Paul says to Philemon, his
master, you receive him just like you'd receive me. My, I
tell you what, that's good news to Onesimus. To this Onesimus. and to you
in essence, that I'm looking at. That's good news isn't it?
What a letter. What a letter. My soul.