I'd like for you to open your
Bibles first to the book of Acts chapter 28. I want to bring something
to your attention here that's important in the understanding of this
book of Philemon. Acts 28 verse 30. Paul was in Rome. And Paul was
imprisoned in bondage in Rome. But Paul was not in the typical
dungeon of that day. It says in verse 30, Acts 28, and Paul dwelt two whole years
in his own hired house. He was house, confined to a house
in prison. He was kept by guards, not allowed
to go to and fro, travel. But he was in his own hired house
and he received all that came to him. People came, visited
him. And he received them, preaching
to them. Listen to verse 31. Preaching
the kingdom of God. And teaching those things which
concern the Lord Jesus Christ. with all confidence and no man
forbidding him. Now turn to Philemon. At this
time, he had a special visitor, a man who came to hear him by
the name of Onesimus. This man Onesimus was a runaway
servant. He was a servant of a friend
of Paul's, a man who lived in Colossae, Philemon by name. Philemon was Paul's beloved friend,
a believer, a man whom God had vested in grace, saved him. He was a prosperous man, a man
with a large house and a large family and many servants. Onesimus
was one of those servants down there in Colossae. This man Philemon
had a church, a church made in his home. He didn't have a church,
but the church, he had, he calls it here in verse 2, the church
in your house, a group of believers. He opened his home to believers,
not only of his household, but other people to come there and
hear preaching. I believe they had a pastor.
In verse 2 of Philemon, Paul sends greetings to our beloved
Athia. That's a woman's name. That probably
is Philemon's wife. Usually when you find a man strong
in faith like that in a church meeting in his home, his wife
is of like persuasion and with him in the matter. But he mentions
another name here, Archippus, our fellow soldier. the church
that's in your house, it's a good possibility Archippus was his
pastor. Philemon, a prosperous man, a
man of great holdings and great household, a man who loved Christ,
loved God, loved Paul, Paul loved him, they were friends, and they
had many servants, among whom was this man Onesimus. And we
judge by the story that Onesimus had run away. and evidently had
stolen some things because Paul talks about him wronging Philemon
and owing Philemon something, indebted to Philemon. So he had
run away from Colossae and he'd come to Rome. And he heard Paul
preach the gospel because Paul says, I've begotten him in my
bonds. He's begotten, he's been born
again. Maybe Paul knew him, I don't know. Paul visited the home of
Philemon down in Colossae, and knew him well. He may have met
this servant, may not. But anyway, he came to hear Paul
in his hired house there in Rome, and he was converted. He was
saved. Paul said he was nothing, unprofitable
to you and to everybody else. But now he's profitable to you
and to me, especially to you, but to me too. Paul saw some
great gifts in this young man, this runaway slave, runaway servant. And he would have kept him. This
is interesting, verse 13 and 14. This young man kept coming
to hear Paul preach. The Lord saved him, and Paul
saw some gifts, some ability. God bested him in grace, and
Paul said in verse 13, I would have kept him with me, that in
your place, He might have ministered to me in jail here in the bonds
of the gospel. He might have been a helper and
an assistant and ministered to me. I would have kept him. He
meant that much to Paul. He was that impressive, this
man whom God had saved. But Paul wouldn't do it. Nessimus
has to go back to Philemon. Verse 14 tells us why. But without
your mind, without your approval, without your consent, I wouldn't
keep him. That's your benefit. Anything
I have from you, I don't want it to be a necessity. I want
to be with you. I don't want you to feel like
you have to give me this man to help me and serve me and leave
him with me, but I wouldn't do it. I'm going to send him back
to you because I don't want your you to feel like you have to
do anything along this line, but willingly. So Paul, the Holy
Spirit giving him wisdom and grace, wrote this epistle. This
is written under the Spirit of God and sent to Philemon in the
hand of this young man, sent him back home. And Paul, I want you to watch
how everything he says in this letter to Philemon and to us
is motivated by our relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ. And
he even starts out with where he is. Paul, a prisoner. A prisoner. It was a wrath of
the religious Jews that put him in prison. It was the Roman government
that kept him there. Only the power of the Roman government
could keep a man in prison in his own house and forbid him
to step outside. It was the Roman government that
guarded him, kept soldiers around the house. But Paul didn't say,
I'm a prisoner of the Jews or a prisoner of the Roman government
or a prisoner of these guards. I'm a prisoner of the Lord Jesus
Christ. What privations or trials or
afflictions or suffering come our way? Paul wants us to remember
that it is according to His will and according to His purpose,
our Father. This is of the Lord. It will
be for His glory and for our good. Let me show you that in
Genesis 50. Turn to Genesis 50. Here is a
scriptural illustration of that. No man ever suffered at the hands
of men undeservedly as much as Joseph.
Now you think about Joseph. If you will think a moment, that
lad hated of his brothers and sold into slavery and taken down to Egypt and put
in prison. No telling how long he stayed
in prison. because his brothers hated him.
His brothers did that out of spite and jealousy and hatred.
But when he finally revealed himself to them and was reconciled to them, forgiving,
he said this to them, Genesis 50 verse 20, You thought evil against me.
You meant to hurt me. To kill me. To destroy me. Put
me out of your mind. But God meant it unto good. To
bring it to pass as it is this day. To save much people alive. Now therefore, don't be afraid
of me. I won't punish you. I'll nourish you and I'll nourish
your little ones. I won't return evil for evil.
No vengeance, but I'll be good to you and your children." And
he comforted them and spake kindly to them. And the only way a man
can do that is to realize that God is the first cause. And whatever
comes our way by the hand of whomever is just second causes. That's all. When Bishop Rutherford
was in prison in Aberdeen for preaching the gospel, and wrote
to his friends. He had always put his address up here. The
date and the address. This is the way he addressed
it. He was in prison in Aberdeen.
From the Lord's Palace in Aberdeen. John Newton said, I'm content
with beholding His face. My awe to His pleasure resounds. No changes of season or place
would make any change in my mind. While blessed with a sense of
His love, a palace, a toy, would appear. And prisons would palace
His proof, if my Lord would dwell with me there. That's what Paul
said. And I tell you, there's some
friends came to be with him. Timothy was there. John Mark
was there. Even Demas at this time was there. And Luke was there with him. And he writes here in verse 1
to Philemon, Paul, a prisoner of Jesus Christ, and Timothy,
my brother, unto Philemon, dearly beloved, fellow laborer, and
to your wife, Athia, and to your pastor, Archippus, our fellow
soldier, and to the church that's in your house. Now, verse 3. Grace to you and peace from God
our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Grace and peace. These are gifts of God. And this is a salutation that
Paul uses in most of his epistles. Most all of them begin this way.
Grace and peace be to you. Grace, mercy and peace. See,
grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. Grace flowed from His
lips. But grace and peace, though they
are once for all mercies, His grace we have from the beginning. His peace by the blood of His
cross. Though they are once for all
mercies, like all graces though, they grow. And that's the reason
he's saying here, Philemon already is an object of God's grace,
and yet Paul says, grace to you. Grace be with you. Grace be in
you. Peace, he's already by the blood
of the cross, by his own blood he purchased peace, therefore
being justified by faith we have peace with God. So why is Paul?
writing to this beloved brother, this believer, and saying, Grace
to you. Grace be multiplied. Peace be
multiplied. Because like all graces, grace
and peace grow. Didn't Peter say that? Let's look at 1 Peter, chapter
2. 1 Peter 2, verse 2. Look at it. As newborn babies, desire the
sincere milk of the Word that you may grow thereby. Grow in
what? Grow in grace. Grow in faith. Grow in love. Grow in peace. Look at 2 Peter 3, verse 18.
Listen to this. Is not this our desire, 2 Peter
3.18, but grow in grace. And in the knowledge of our Lord
Jesus Christ. To Him be glory both now and
forever. Grow in grace. So Philemon, you're saved, you're
righteous in Christ, you have peace with God. But my prayer
is that you grow in grace, and in love, and in faith, and in
humility, and in patience. We grow in these things. Let
me show you another scripture in 2 Corinthians 8. 2 Corinthians 8, talking about
grace groweth. Grace groweth. In 2 Corinthians
8, Verse 7, listen, therefore, this 2 Corinthians 8 and 9, these
two chapters are devoted almost exclusively to giving, sharing
with others, generosity. And he's talking about that being
a grace, the grace of giving. He says, therefore, verse 7,
2 Corinthians 8, as you abound in everything, In faith, you're
bound in utterance, preaching. In knowledge, you're wise people,
understanding people. In diligence, in your love to
us, see that you grow abound in this
grace also. See that you grow abound in this
grace also. So when Paul writes to Philemon,
a man who's an object of grace and peace and mercy, he said,
my prayer for you is that the grace of God might be multiplied
in you. Peace. You know, our Lord said
one day, come unto me, all you that labor and are heavy laden,
and I'll give you rest. We cease from our labors and
we enter into His rest. But now listen, he didn't stop
there. He said, take my yoke upon you and learn of me. Learn of me. Not from me, of
me. He's the teacher and he's the
lesson. We learn of me. And you'll find rest. The more
you learn of Christ, the more rest and peace. Grace. Assurance. Love. Take. Grow in these things. So, these
salutations are not just what's happened, it's what's happening
now. Growing in grace. Grace be multiplied. Now, thank God. I thank God for
you. Listen, I thank God making mention
of you always in my prayer and hearing of your love and your
faith which you have toward the Lord Jesus Christ and toward all the saints. Paul
said, I hear good things from down there in Colossae. I hear good things from you and
from your house. And cheaply, the good things
I hear is that you love Christ and you love His people. And I'll tell you, where love
for Christ lives, you'll find love for His people. Where you
find love for Christ, you'll find love for His people, you'll
find love for His Word. You'll find love for His Gospel.
Men and women may have religion and not love. Lots of folks do. Men and women might know some
doctrine. even Calvinism, what we call the five points.
They may know that and not love. Men and women may be moral, upstanding,
outstanding citizens and not have love, but nobody, and I
mean nobody, can love Christ and not love others. That's not
possible. My Lord said that. He said, the love of God is shed
abroad in your heart by the Holy Spirit. It's a divine operation. And he says over here in 1 John
4, listen. 1 John chapter 4. Paul commends
this man Philemon. He said, I've heard about your
love for Christ and your love for everybody else in Christ. For all the saints, you love
them. He says here in 1 John 4 verse
7, listen, Beloved, let us love one another. Love is of God.
It's a gift of God. Everyone that loveth is born
of God and knows God. He that loveth not knoweth not
God. God's love. And this was manifested, the
love of God toward us, because God sent His Son, His only begotten
Son, into the world that we might live through Him. And herein
is love. Not that we love God. We don't
love by nature. We love by grace. But He loved
us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sin. Beloved,
if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another. Verse
20. If a man says, I love God and
hates his brother, he's a liar. He that loveth not his brother
whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen? So that's what he's saying here
to Philemon. I thank God for you. I pray for
you. I've heard some good things about
you. Your love and your faith. Those are the two things. Love
and truth. Love and faith. That's John's
second or third epistle. That's the whole theme, those
two words, love and faith. Love and truth. Love and faith.
Walking in love and faith. And then he says something here
in verse 6. I want you to look at this, and
let me help you with a word here. I have to get some help on it,
so I'll help you with the help I've been helped. That the communication
of your faith may become effectual. The communication of your faith.
Here's what he's saying. Faith is proved, communicated
to others, and manifested to others, communicated, manifested
to others, and seen by others in deeds, in good deeds, in good works,
in kind acts. that the communication of your
faith may become effectual, acknowledged by others. That's what James
says, show me your faith without your works. Can't be done. I'll
show you my faith by my conduct, by my works. It'll be communicated,
it'll be shown, it'll be manifested. Others even acknowledge, well,
he loves God. He's a believer. He's identified
with God and the things of God. But they acknowledge something
else. Look at the last part. And they acknowledge that every
good thing in you is in you because of Christ. You make that clear. You make
that known unto them. They'll acknowledge and you'll
acknowledge it's not of us, not of us, not unto us, not unto
us, but unto thy name. Give glory. Because Christ dwells
in me. And that's the reason that we
talk in the Scripture about giving anonymously. Don't sound a trumpet
before you when you give things. Because that way you're bragging
about yourself. But do it in secret. Because
it's not of you, it's of God. When you pray, when you fast,
When you give, when you worship, when you do these things, don't
sound a trumpet before you like the hypocrites. They want everybody
to see their good works and glorify them. But you do what you do
because of Christ in you, in the name of Christ, and do it
secretly. And it'll leak out. It'll be
known. It'll be known. Verse 7 says, I have great joy
and consolation in your love, because the bowels of the saints
are refreshed by you, brother. Now, this is interesting here
in verse 8 and 9. Two ways to obedience. Two ways to obedience. Paul says
in verse 8, now listen, What he's writing to Philemon is he's
sending Onesimus back. He said, now you receive him
as a brother. You receive him like you'd receive
me. You forgive him. You blot out his debt. You show
him kindness. You embrace him. Now verse 8,
I could command you to do that. Wherefore, though I might be
much bold in Christ, I'm an apostle of Christ, I'm a servant of Christ,
I could enjoin you command you to do that which is convenient,
to do that which is right. Could not He have done that? But there's a better way, verse
9. And I suppose this is what some
religious people want. They want to be commanded to
tithe and commanded to go to church and commanded to witness
and commanded to do this and commanded to do that required,
signed pledges, promises. Won't the preacher fuss at them
all the time because they're not doing this, not doing that,
and are doing this, and aren't doing that? Paul said, I could
do that, but that's not it. Verse 9, for love's sake, for
love's sake, because of His love for you.
Christ, God Almighty, loved you. You ought to love somebody else.
Christ loved you and gave Himself for you. You say you love Him. We love each other. Do it for
love's sake. That's the way we conduct our
marriages. Somebody talked to Spurgeon one
time and said, don't you teach tithing? He said, no. No. Why not? He said, well, nobody
has to command me to spend 10% of my income on my wife's birthday
present. I'll spend what I want to spend.
I want to give the whole thing to her, I will. Half of it I
will. But I'm not operating under a
law to give. For love's sake. There's a better
way than laws and commandments. Preachers have used a lot of
things through the years, threatening people with hell, threatening
people with a loss of life or income, because they won't do
certain things. Promise and rewards if they do
certain things. That's not the way. He said,
do it for love's sake. I beseech you for love's sake.
For love's sake. Let me show you a Scripture over
here in 1 Corinthians chapter 12. In chapter 12 of 1 Corinthians,
the last The last words. And here, Paul talks about the
gifts that God gave the early church. Supernatural gifts. Verse 28. 1 Corinthians 12. God set some in the church, apostles
and prophets and teachers and miracles and gifts of healing
and helps and governments and different languages Everybody
wasn't an apostle. Everybody wasn't a prophet. Everybody
wasn't a teacher. Everybody wasn't a worker of
miracles. Verse 30, Have all the gifts of healing? No. Do
all speak with tongues? No. Do all interpret? No. But
covet the best gifts. Nothing wrong with wanting to
be a person with great gifts. But I'll show you a better way. I'll show you a better way. I'll
show you a more excellent way. Though I speak with the tongues
of men and of angels and have not love, I'm a sounding brass
or a tinkling cymbal. Though I have the gift of prophecy
and understand all mystery and all knowledge and have all faith
so that I can remove mountains and have not love, I'm nothing.
Though I bestow my goods to feed the poor, give my body to be
burned and have not love, it profits me nothing. That's a
better way. Verse 13 says, Now about his
faith, hope, love, charity, these three, but the greatest of these
is love. Now look at the first three words in chapter 14, verse
1. Follow after love. Make love your aim. Make love
your aim. His love, your love, your love. Make it your aim. I'll show you
a better way. and all the laws and traditions and rules and
ceremonies, and you make that your aim. And that's what he's
saying to Philemon here. I could, as an apostle of Christ,
with the authority of the Lord, commanded you to do what you
ought to do. But I'm not going to do it. I'm
going to rest in the fact that you really love God. I believe
you love God. And if you do, you will. Isn't that, is that right? Now,
yeah, I know that's so. Get out the whip, Dan, of law
and reward and threatenings and punishment. A lady wrote me last
week and said, you ought to preach more hellfire and brimstone a
few weeks ago than some time now. Hellfire, I don't want to
preach hellfire. I've never got anything done
that way. Never have. Never have. And Paul didn't do
it. What a difference Christ makes.
Look here at what he says about Onesimus. Verse 10, I beseech
you for my son Onesimus, whom I have begotten in my bonds,
in times past he was unprofitable. Wasn't worth a plug nickel to
anybody. Just a runaway servant. A thief. Now, in Christ, profitable to
you and to me. And I sent him again. that you
might receive Him as my own bowels. I would have retained Him. I
would have kept Him. In your stead, He might have
ministered to me. He's your servant. I could have
just kept Him and said, now you can be my servant. Oh, finally,
He won't mind. Well, maybe He wouldn't, but
I want to hear it from Him. That's what He said. You might
not mind, but I want to hear it from you. Alright, verse 15, this is interesting
here. Perhaps, you know, we might be encouraged
here about not only runaway servants, but runaway sons, runaway daughters. Verse 15, perhaps he departed
for a season that you might receive him forever. Maybe, maybe so. As I know Philemon got up that
morning and Onesimus was gone. And his watch was gone. And his
wife Silver was gone. And his best jacket was gone.
And his favorite hat was gone. He said, that sorry rascal. I
gave him a home. I had his daddy lived here, and
he lived here. I furnished him clothing and
shelter and everything I had. I've been good to that boy, good
to that girl. And this is the thanks I give
him. I know that went through his mind because he was a human. But Paul said, now wait a minute,
Philemon. If he hadn't run away, he'd have
never heard the gospel. If he hadn't have rebelled, he'd
have never repented. If he hadn't been down that path
that broke him, he knew he did you wrong. He found it out. And
he came to me. And he wept. And God saved him. And maybe he departed for a little
while, that you should receive him forever. Not now as just a servant. That
was your relationship then. He was your servant. He was your
son, your daughter in the flesh. But now, a brother forever. That's right. A brother, beloved
forever. Especially to me. But how much
more to you? Watch it now. In the flesh and
in the Lord. What a heartbreak it is to watch
him go. Oh, what a joy to see him come
back. When he brings him back, Satan takes him away and the
Lord brings him home. He said, I'll go find my sheep
and I'll bring him home. So just hold that to your heart.
Keep that in your mind. when the next deep, dark valley
comes your way, and say, God moves in mysterious ways His
wonders to perform. He plants His footsteps on the
sea and rides upon the storm. Ye fearful saints, fresh courage
take. The clouds you so much dread
are big with mercy and will break with blessings on your head. Alright, verse 17. If you count me, this is the
picture, I'll close with this, the picture of Christ here in
the gospel. If you count me a partner, receive
Him as myself. Paul's a picture of Christ here.
Christ says, Father, I'm a partner. I'm one with You. Receive my sheep as You receive
me. And verse 18, if He wrongs you,
and we have, if He owes you anything, and we do, put it on my account,
and I'll pay it. Christ took our sins in His body
on the tree, paid all we owe. We owed a debt we couldn't pay.
But He paid that debt, He didn't know. He said, I've written this
with my own hands. I mean this. Our Lord has written
it with His hands. He's written it. in the covenant
of grace. That's what David died believing. God wrote it with his own hand. And I'll pay it. I'll pay it. However, I do say
to you, I do not say to you, but I could, how you owe me your
very own self. Brother, let me have joy of thee
in the Lord. what you ought to do for love's
sake. Let me have joy of you in the
Lord.