And we'll begin reading here
in verse 15 of Philemon, where Paul says, for perhaps he departed
there. He therefore departed for a season
that thou shouldest receive him forever. Not now as a servant,
but above a servant, a brother, beloved, especially to me, but
how much more unto thee, both in the flesh and in the Lord.
Here, Paul is continuing to intercede for Onesimus. He's asking Philemon
to receive him. and forgiving. And he asked him
to receive him, first of all, back to his place as a servant.
You know, just because the Lord saved Onesimus doesn't mean he
still doesn't have a job. He still doesn't have to work
in this world. You know, when the Lord saves his people, everything's
changed spiritually. Spiritually, everything's been
made new. But look over 1 Corinthians chapter 7. Even though spiritually
everything's made new, Your station in this life is unchanged. Now let every man abide in the same
calling wherein he was called. Art thou called being a servant?
Well, care not for it. But if thou mayest be made free,
use it rather. For he that is called in the
Lord being a servant is the Lord's free man. Likewise also, he that
is called being free is Christ's servant. You're bought with a
price. Be not ye the servants of men. Brethren, let every man wherein
he is called therein abide with God. If you're called as a servant,
you remain a servant. If you're called as a free man,
you remain God's free man. So Paul asks Philemon to receive
Onesimus back as a servant to his place, his rightful place,
serving you. But there's one big difference.
Now Onesimus is going to be a good servant. He's going to be a hardworking,
profitable servant. That's what Paul said back in
verse 11. He says, where in a time past he was to be unprofitable,
but now he's profitable. Now he's going to be a profitable
servant. So receive him as a servant,
but receiving above a servant too. You receive him now as a
brother in Christ. Well, how are you going to receive
a brother in Christ? Lovingly. Because he's loved.
You receive him warmly and with open arms for love's sake, because
you love your brother. The Lord's been merciful to him.
And now you'll be thankful for him as a servant because he'll
be profitable and you'll love him as a brother. You've got
the same father. He's been born again. You've
got the same father. So you love him as a brother.
And there's such a clear picture of Christ interceding for his
people. God's own son. came to this earth
as a servant. That's what God said. He said,
behold, my servant, mine elect whom I uphold. He's my servant.
He came as the servant of God. And he was a profitable servant.
The pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand, Isaiah said.
And he came to accomplish the will of his father. And that
will was to suffer for the sins of God's elect. He suffered,
he bled, he died, he was buried, and he rose again. And then he
ascended back on high, back to his father. And the father accepted
him. He accepted that God, man. He accepted both his son and
his servant who accomplished all of his will. He accepted
his servant. And when God accepted him, all
of God's elect were accepted in him. We were accepted in Christ. And every one of those elect
is beloved, is loved of God for Christ's sake. The Apostle Paul
loved this man Onesimus because he said he was begotten again.
He was born again in my bonds. Well, God's elect are loved because
we've been begotten again because of the bonds, the suffering of
our Lord Jesus Christ. And we are so loved that despite
who and what we are by nature, Christ is not ashamed to call
us brethren. Loves us as brethren. Well, in
light of that, to the believer, we're going to love each other
as brother. And that's what Paul's telling Philemon to do, to love
him as a brother. He goes on in verse 17. He says,
now, if you count me, therefore, a partner, receive him as myself. Now, Paul says, if you count
me a partner, he's meaning if you count me your friend. Do
you count me your friend? Do you count me your partner
in the grace of God? Then receive Onesimus. receiving
back into your home and receiving into your heart. You receive
Onesimus just like you'd receive me. How do you imagine Philemon
would receive the Apostle Paul if he got word that Paul had
gotten out of prison and was going to be there tomorrow? How
do you imagine Philemon would receive the Apostle Paul? Buddy,
they'd roll out the red carpet. They'd cook the best recipe they
knew how to cook. They'd eat in the dining room.
On the best China with the best silverware on the best tablecloth.
Paul says receive Onesimus the same way. You really going to
receive this runaway, no good thief the same way you'd receive
the Apostle Paul? You put him in the dining room
on the best China? You going to put your best silverware
in the hands of that thief? You will if you're receiving
him. It's just as if you'd receive the Apostle Paul. Really, you're
receiving him. If Onesimus is a child of God,
you really you're receiving him as if you're receiving Christ
himself. I grant you, Onesimus is probably the least in the
household of God, but our Lord taught us in Matthew 25, whatever
you do to him, you do unto Christ. So you receive him really more
than the Apostle Paul as if you're receiving Christ himself. But
here's the blessing, is the picture. The only way a sinner, any of
us, can ever hope to be accepted by God is in Christ. The Father receives his people
as Christ himself. He receives those people who
bear the name of Christ, who wear the righteousness of Christ,
who have been born in the image of Christ. That's what the songwriter
said, when he sees me, he sees the blood of the Lamb. He sees
me as worthy and not as I am. He doesn't see me as the way
I was born in Adam. He sees me in Christ. And that
substitution, the only way any of us can ever hope to be accepted
is in Christ our substitute. Just like the only way Onesimus
could ever hope to be accepted back into Philemon's household
was in a substitute as the Apostle. Just as you received him, just
as if you received the Apostle Paul. And Paul goes on here in
verse 18, strengthens his argument. He said, if he had wronged thee,
or owed thee aught, put that on mine account. Now the apostle,
he's a very gracious man. He uses the word if, but there's
no if about this situation. It's not if Onesimus has stolen
time and money from you. It's not if he's kept the other
servants from working and doing what they're supposed to be doing.
It's not if. It's he did. And if Philemon
would really add up everything that Onesimus owes him, everything
he stole from him, everything that he caused the other servants
not to do in a timely manner, if he added it all up, Onesimus
owes him a huge debt. And Paul says, if you're still
carrying that debt on your books, don't charge it to Onesimus.
Charge it to me. Put it on my account. You move
that debt on the ledger from Onesimus' column to my column,
charge it to me, put it on my account. Now, you know, what
Paul's hoping Philemon will do out of grace is forgive the debt.
And if Philemon does that, I'm speaking here in a, in a worldly
sense that applies to all of us. If we would do something
like this, forgive the debt for love's sake, you won't be harmed.
Philemon is not going to be harmed for doing this for love's sake.
The Lord will bless that. But what Paul's doing here is
he's standing as surety for Onesimus, just like Judah stood as surety
for Benjamin, just like Christ from eternity past stood as surety
for his people. And it's not a matter of if we
owe God a debt. It's not if. Every son of Adam,
every one of us here has sinned against God. We've despised God's
son. We spit in his face. We've declared
war on God because the carnal mind is enmity against God. We've
hated God. We've wronged him. We've sinned
against him with every breath that we've stolen from God's
heir. Everything we've done is sin. And we owe him an infinite
sin debt that ourselves and ourselves, we can never pay. We don't have
the ability to even begin to make a payment on it. But what
are we to do? We've got a surety. Christ came
with the ability to pay. He stood as surety for the debt
of his people. And he told the Father, charge
their debt to me, charge it to my account. And that is exactly
what happened. Our Lord assumed the sin debt
of his people. He said their debt is my debt. Their sin is my sin. It's on
my account. But now this is more just a shuffling
of paper. This is just more moving, you
know, on ink and paper, the debt from this column to this column.
Christ became guilty. He became guilty of the sin of
his people. Scripture said he was made sin
for us. He became a curse for us and
died just for the unjust that he might bring us to God. Christ
took the sin debt of his people, all of it, on himself. and set his people free. We are
debt free. The ledger's empty, completely
empty. Now go on, verse 19, Paul says,
I, Paul, have written it with mine own hand. I will repay it. Although, albeit, I do not say
to thee how thou owest unto me even thine own self besides.
Now most people feel like the Apostle Paul dictated his letters.
He was dictating this letter, but whoever it is, Some people
feel like Onesimus actually wrote the letter that Paul dictated.
Paul took the quill and wrote this verse. I, Paul, have written
it with mine own hand. He signed his name to it. I'll
repay it. Paul signed a promissory note
saying this debt belongs to me. I'll pay it. Although spiritually,
I won't mention to you, but spiritually you owe me your own life besides.
I'll still pay Onesimus' debt, even though you owe me a debt
of love and gratitude, I'll still repay this debt. Now, a thousand
times I've said this about Brother Henry, I owe him my life. I owe him my life. I was converted under his ministry. He was faithful every week, faithful
to preach the gospel to me, to feed us with the word of God. spiritual growth under that ministry.
I owe him my life. And today, I owe John the same
debt. I owe him my life, dependent
on him to feed us with the Word of God. And there's such a special
relationship between people, believers, and their pastor,
especially the man who first taught you the Gospel. Paul said
the church at Galatia would have plucked out their own eyes if
it was possible giving it to him. Paul told the church at
Thessalonica he loved him so much, he said, I'm willing not
just to impart the gospel to you, but my own soul. Just how
much he loved him. It's such a special bond, and
we understand that. Now imagine, if he comes to you
and says, someone owes you money, and said, don't charge it to
them. Put it on my account. I'll pay it. Buddy, your money's no good here.
It's just no good here. I'm not going to take it. I can't
take it when I owe you so much already. True story. Place where I worked several
years ago, before I came to work there, had a man. They let this
fellow rack up, I'm not kidding you, in excess of a quarter million
dollars worth of debt. Over $250,000. Well, they finally
cut him off, came up with a plan whereby he would repay the debt
over time. We have a rebate program. You
buy so much stuff, you qualify for this rebate. This fella came in every Friday
with his handout to collect that rebate. You've got to be kidding
me. He come in to collect that measly
$300 when he owed them a quarter million dollars? Do you got no
conscience? Same thing applies to you and
me. You're going to take money from the man, let him repay somebody
else's debt? Just that little piddly $300? Will you owe him your whole life?
No. Of course not. But do you see
the picture here? Christ interceding for his people.
See, unlike Onesimus, our debt against God can't just be written
off. Can't just be forgotten about. Well, you know, we'll
forget about that. Can't do it because God's holy. His holiness
demands payment for sin. And the only payment that God
will accept is debt. And that debt must be paid. Well, Christ stood as our surety
from all of eternity. He told the Father, I've written
it with my own hand. I will repay it. He knew the
debt we'd rack up, and he still said, I'll repay it. And he came
as a man and did that for his people. Father charged the sin
of his elect to his son. His son became guilty. He suffered. He bled and he died under the
justice of God, of his father. And it had to be death. Christ
couldn't just whip out his wallet and pay a little bit of money
to pay the fine. He couldn't pay something that
didn't mean anything to him. Our debt requires more than silver
and gold. It requires blood. It requires
death. Christ had to become what we
are. He had to be made sin. In order
to fully pay our debt, our substitute had to bear our sin. He had to
bear our condemnation. He had to bear our damnation
and shed His blood before we could ever go free, before that
debt would be counted as paid. And our Lord Jesus Christ paid
the debt in full. One hundred percent in full.
There's not a penny left for anyone, any of His people, to
repay. Now I'll tell you what that means.
If Christ died for you, there's no more record of your sin. None. Jesus paid it off. All the debt
I owe. Sin had left a crimson stain.
He washed it white as snow. He washed that ledger white as
snow so that my sin debt is expunged just as if it was never there.
Now that substitution and satisfaction. Our substitute, our surety, satisfied
all the law's demands and everyone for whom he died is 100% debt
free. Yet, believers still live as
debtors, don't we? We live as debtors. We owe a
debt to our pastor. We owe a debt to each other.
We owe a debt to the world. We owe a debt to the world to
preach the gospel to them. They're rushing headlong into
hell. We owe a debt to them to preach the gospel to them, to
point them to Christ. And we owe a debt to Christ.
And not a debt as if we're repaying what he paid for us. It's a debt
of love and gratitude. And that's a whole lot more.
I heard somebody say this this week, you know, Jesus wants you
to give your life to him. This debt of love and gratitude
is a whole lot more than just giving your life to Jesus. Now,
we do things in service of the Lord, no question about it. But
it's more than giving your life to Jesus. Christ is our life. He is our life. And a believer
does what he does out of love and gratitude for the unspeakable
gift of Christ, for the unspeakable gift of forgiveness of sins and
eternal life that's found in Christ. So look at verse 20,
Paul says, 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. Now Paul says, You give my heart so much joy if you receive
Onesimus. By the time Philemon got to the
end of this letter, he just melted. Of course he's going to receive
him. How can he not? must receive Onesimus because
Paul is pleading with him for love's sake. And that's what's
going to tug at the heart of the believer. Not because the
apostle is using his authority to tell him he has to, for love's
sake. And that just tugs at the heart
of a believer. And Paul knew what he was saying
was going to appeal to Philemon's heart. He knew that because a
believer lives in faith and love and obedience. Paul says, I know
you. I've known you a long time. I
know you'll do even more than I ask, because I have confidence
in your obedience to Christ. And your obedience. Well, in
your obedience to what? What's Paul talking about? His
obedience to the royal commandment. Love the brethren as Christ loved
us. Forgive one another as Christ
has forgiven us. And that makes the attitude of
a believer, what can I do? Situation comes up, what can
I do? Not what do I have to do? What do I have to do so we can
get by? What can I do? And that's the attitude of people
here. Just any time something comes
up, what can I do? People are so willing to chip
in. Where did that attitude come from? Love for Christ. Love and thanksgiving for everything
he's done for you. That's the attitude. After everything
the Lord's done for me, I'm happy to serve wherever he puts me.
Lord, hear my sin. What can I do? And Paul was justified
in his confidence of Philemon. In the world, you can and you
should expect trouble. That's all you expect from the
world. But what about the family of God? You can and should expect
peace, comfort and joy from each other. You should expect that
in the family of God. And I'm confident that's what
Paul found. Now, verse 22, he says, but with all prepare me
also a lodging for I trust that through your prayers, I should
be given unto you. And here's both the power of God and the
power of prayer. Paul's in a Roman prison. I mean,
a Roman prison, this powerful nation. How in the world is he
going to get out of that place? Rome, the most powerful nation
on earth, but that's nothing compared to the power of God.
Rome with all of its political power and all of its armies and
all of its sophisticated weapons is nothing compared to the power
of prayer. Now, I know this from reading
Scripture. God's will shall be done. His eternal purpose shall
be done. And nothing we do or say is going
to change God's eternal purpose or will. Nothing. Yet, I know
this. God answers prayers. He hears
the cries of His people. He said you have not because
you ask not. Pray. You see, the Lord puts it in
the heart of his people to pray in accordance with his will.
So both are true. God has an eternal, sovereign,
unchanging will and purpose. And God answers the prayers of
his people. So what's that mean to us? Pray. Pray for forgiveness of sins.
Pray for mercy. Pray for your children. Would
you like to see God have mercy on your children? Wayne prayed
it. He begged mercy for our children. Ask him. Pray. That's the only
place we're going to find it. Pray for each other. Pray for
our pastor. And Paul trusted that the Lord
would deliver him through the prayers of Philemon. He'd come
visit. Well, here's the picture, the
blessing. It's Christ interceding for his people. Right now, he
sits at the Father's right hand. Scripture says, ever living to
make intercession for his people. He's there making intercession
for his people right now. But I'm telling you this, he's
not always going to stay there. He's coming again. He's coming
again. And it's not just going to be
for a visit. It's going to be for a true homecoming. See, Paul
told Philemon, prepare me a place. I'm coming. What's our Lord doing
for us? We're not preparing a place for
him. He's preparing a place for us. And he's going to come and
bring us to that place. Now look at verse 23. He says,
there salute the Epaphras, my fellow prisoner in Christ Jesus,
Marcus, Aristocras, Demas, Lucas, my fellow laborers. Now these
different men were with Paul as he wrote this letter. And
in closing, you know, they send their greetings to Philemon.
Epaphras, he was a also a prisoner there at Rome. He was the pastor
at the Church of Colossae, and Philemon knew him well, so he's
sending his greetings to Philemon. And this man Aristocras, he traveled
with Paul different places, and Lucas that Paul mentions is the
Luke who wrote the Gospel of Luke, and both, it doesn't look
like they were prisoners, were visiting Paul there, and they
send their greeting to Philemon. Now, I've never seen this before.
As often as I read scripture, I have to remind myself this
over and over and over again. There's not a word of scripture
that's wasted. Look who else is here with Paul.
Marcus. And all the writers say this
Marcus is John Mark. John Mark, who's Barnabas's nephew.
He's there with Paul. Now, they hadn't always been
on such good terms. Look back at Acts 15. They hadn't
always been on such good terms. In Acts 15, verse 36, but some days after Paul said
unto Barnabas, let us go again and visit our brethren in every
city where we have preached the word of the Lord, and see how
they do. And Barnabas determined to take with them John, whose
surname was Mark. But Paul thought not good to
take him with who departed from them, from Pamphylia, and went
not with them to the work. And the contention was so sharp
between them, between Paul and Barnabas, that they departed
asunder one from another. They separated. So Barnabas took
Mark and sailed unto Cyprus. And Paul chose Silas, and departing,
being recommended by the brethren under the grace of God. And he
went through Syria and Cilicia, confirming the churches. Now
here these two men had such sharp contention over this John Mark. Paul said he's not grown up enough.
He's abandoned us in the ministry before. We're not taking him
with us. He's a hindrance to the ministry. The contention
was so sharp, they split up. Well, over the course of time,
there's some reconciliation happening. You see how Paul practiced what
he preached? Over time, John Mark grew up a little bit. He
matured in the faith. And Paul recognized that. For
whatever he did wrong in the past, Paul forgave him and accepted
him as a brother. Look over at 2 Timothy chapter
4. See what Paul is telling Philemon
to do, Paul had already done with John Mark. Now things are
different with John Mark. Something happened here. In 2
Timothy 4 verse 10. Or verse 9, he says, Do thy diligence
to come shortland to me, for Demas hath forsaken me, having
loved this present world, and is departed unto Thessalonica,
Crescens to Galatia, Titus unto Dalmatia. Only Luke is with me. Take Mark, that's John Mark,
and bring him with thee, for he is profitable to me for the
ministry. Now one time he's unprofitable. Now he's profitable. Sound like
anybody else you know? Onesimus. Paul is practicing
what he preached. And this is a good lesson for
us. Believers are going to face situations just like this, just
exactly like this, and more than once. Paul went through this
ordeal with John Mark. He wasn't done with ordeals like
this. You see who else is with him
here? Demas. What did we just read over in
2 Timothy? Demas forsook me. I'm sure that broke the Apostle's
heart. I don't know if Demas was a believer or not. I hope
he was. He had a time of weak faith and because of this trial
he left. I hope later on there was reconciliation. We don't know. It could be the
trial revealed a false profession. It could be. I don't know. But
here's what I do know. From the moment Adam fell to
today in 2010, people had never changed and they never will.
We will face situations like this in our lifetime. Well, how
are we to handle it? Prayerfully, patiently, patiently,
praying that the Lord will have mercy, provide an opportunity
for reconciliation. And if he does, were to face
a situation like this ready to forgive, to accept with open
arms back into fellowship. Now verse 25, the grace of our
Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit. Paul ends right where
he started with grace. Grace to you and peace from God
our Father is the way he began and he ends, the grace of our
Lord Jesus Christ be with you. Our message, the message of Christ
begins and ends And everywhere in between, grace. Grace. Undeserved, unmerited, unearned
favor from God. I tell you, it takes grace for
the believer. It takes grace every step. It
takes God's grace to reveal himself to us. It takes God's grace to
keep us. It takes God's grace for us to take every step that
we take through this life. It takes grace to be forgiving
and loving to a fellow like Onesimus. How much more grace does it take
to be gracious and forgiving and loving to a fellow like Frank
Tate? More than Onesimus, I can tell
you that. Both from God and from our brethren. So grace be with
you. Grace be with your spirit. Pray for more grace. Because
here's what I can promise you. You never have enough. You can't
get enough. All right. Lord bless you.