I assume we've all read the book, the letter,
and I guess the, Paul's a prisoner, most likely
in Rome, and Onesimus has come to him. Onesimus
was a slave belonging to Philemon, and Paul then
is writing this letter addressing that whole
situation with Philemon, and his argument is
at least, there's at least five things that he
uses to appeal to Philemon to do what Paul wants
him to do. In verse 14, it says that I benefit
in the King James or that I good deed. So Paul
has in mind something is gonna happen here. He
makes his request, what is it in verse 12? Receive
him, and then again in 17, receive him as myself.
So with that, I think that's enough of an introduction
as to what's going on that we're trying to follow
what it is that the Apostle Paul is telling Philemon.
So keep those things in mind, and we'll read
this. Paul, a prisoner of Jesus Christ, and Timothy
our brother, unto Philemon our dearly beloved
and fellow laborer, and to beloved Apphia and
Archippus our fellow soldier, and to the church
in thy house. Grace to you and peace from God
our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. I thank
my God, making mention of thee always in my prayers,
hearing of thy love and faith which thou hast
toward the Lord Jesus and toward all saints,
that the communication of thy faith may become
effectual by the acknowledging of every good
thing which is in you in Christ Jesus. For we
have great joy and consolation in thy love, because
the bowels of the saints are refreshed by thee,
brother. Wherefore, though I might be much bold
in Christ to enjoin thee that which is convenient,
or fitting, yet for love's sake I rather beseech
thee, being such in one as Paul the Aged, and
now also a prisoner of Jesus Christ. I beseech
thee for my son Onesimus, whom I have begotten
in my bonds, which in time past was to thee unprofitable.
but now profitable to thee and to me. Whom I
have sent again, or sent back, thou therefore
receive him that is mine own bowels. Whom I would
have retained with me, that in thy stead he might
have ministered unto me in the bonds of the gospel.
But without thy mind would I do nothing, that
thy benefit should not be as it were of necessity,
but willingly. For perhaps he therefore departed
for a season, that thou shouldst 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. If thou count me therefore a partner,
receive him as myself. If he has wronged thee,
or oweeth thee anything, put that on my account.
I, Paul, have written it with my own hand. I
will repay it. Albeit, I do not say to thee how
thou owest unto me even thine own self besides.
Yea, brother, let me have joy of thee in the
Lord. Refresh my bowels in the Lord. Having confidence
in thy obedience, I wrote unto thee, knowing
that thou wilt also do more than I say. But withal,
prepare me also a lodging, for I trust that Through
your prayers I shall be given unto you. There
salute the Epaphras, my fellow prisoner in Christ
Jesus. Marcus, Aristarchus, Demas, Lucas, my
fellow laborers. The grace of our Lord Jesus
Christ be with your spirit, amen. What more can
we say? I mean, it's abundantly clear, right?
What's Paul doing? What's Paul expect Philemon
to do? Now the world would say that the Bible
is an endorsement of slavery and they love to
go to this book of Philemon. Why do they do that?
Because Paul sends them back. And Paul also tells
what? Slaves and masters to be good slaves and
good masters in the Lord. But that's hardly an
endorsement of slavery, and it's a total misunderstanding
of what's going on here in Philemon. Paul does
send Onesimus back, but that is not, that's not,
you can't read that and think that he sent him
back because he was in some kind of, because
of Roman law or any other reason that he would
send him back as a slave. He anticipates something
is going to happen when he sends him back, and
it's not that he will be a slave for the rest
of his life. There's a couple really hard verses
in here that can be confusing. I guess verse
6, how does that fit in there? And then verse
16, we have this, and this is the only place
that Paul uses this term in all of his writings
in the New Testament. He says, but how much more
unto thee above a servant a brother beloved,
both in the flesh and in the Lord? And so we'll
have to decide exactly what Paul's saying there.
Really, if we read this and we understand Paul's...
argument to Philemon properly, it's a reputation
of any kind of a racist idea or any kind of an
idea that slavery is okay in honoring the Lord.
It's true that nowhere in the New Testament is
there a prohibition against slavery, except for
here in Philemon. Even in Philemon, it's not
stated as that. thou shalt not have slaves."
It's not stated that way. There's another relationship
in the New Testament church that is against God's
way. What relationship is that in the church?
These unconverted people come under the sound
of the gospel, they're converted and they're
inside this relationship, but it's not God's
design. What is that relationship? Polygamy.
And nowhere in the New Testament does Paul or
anyone else say, when you become a Christian,
pick the best and get rid of the rust. Now why
would that not honor the Lord? Well put yourself
in that situation. You're one of the rest and
now what? What's been said to you? You married
this man under the premise that what? He's going
to take care of you. He's going to provide for
you everything that he ought to provide. He's
going to provide that not only to you, but to
the rest of his wives. And now he's a Christian.
So now his standard of providing is even higher.
And what's he going to do then? Just kick him
out? So, that wouldn't be a very loving thing.
It also wouldn't be very loving to just take
your slaves and kick them out onto the street
and say you're free. What would they be free
to do most likely? Most of them would be free
to do under that circumstance. Either become
somebody else's slave or more than likely what?
No. Starve and die. Here's your freedom. You'll
have it for a few days until you starve and die
or you can maybe turn to crime. So it's not quite
as simple as it may be if we had slavery here
in the United States today where we turn people
loose and then they were able to get jobs and
support themselves and the government might step
in and take care of them. That wasn't possible
under Roman law, primarily because why? Because
the Romans were a bunch of racists. We have this
group of people that are above all the rest.
We're not going to provide anything for these
less than human slaves. So that may be one of
the reasons why there isn't a prohibition against
it in the New Testament. I think it was something
like 30%. of the Roman population were slaves.
Now that's an incredible number because when
Rome conquered, what happened to every single
person within the territory that was conquered?
They became slaves. They didn't become Roman,
they became slaves. Now that means that if the
average family might have had a slave, maybe
they had a couple slaves. If you were wealthy,
you probably had a whole bunch of them. So inside
the church, who knows what the percentage of
slaves and free men were there in the church?
None of us know. It's not recorded for us. And
I'm just saying that to acknowledge that this
is what was going on. That was the culture at
large. And there is, if you run any history on
slavery, that you'll find that when William Wilberforce,
and eventually here in the states, The arguments
that were laid against slavery were found where?
In the Bible. So the Bible is not silent on the
issue, although it may not be explicit on the
issue, and come right out and say slavery is
prohibited. It's kind of like the U .S. Constitution.
The U .S. Constitution didn't outlaw slavery,
but everything in it argued against the continuation
of slavery. So that when the culture moved to
the place where they were ready to do that, they
found inside the Constitution every argument
and every right and every law that they needed
to outlaw. So, I say all that as an introduction.
So why is Philemon in the Bible? And is it applicable
to us? We don't have slaves. So is that the end
of it? Its use ended when slavery was outlawed
in the United States and it would have a use
maybe some places in Africa and in the Arab world
where they still have slaves, but not here in
the United States because we don't have slaves.
Is that true? You might think that because who's
ever heard somebody teach on the Book of Philemon?
And none of us raise our hands. So why is it
in the canon of the New Testament? And is it
applicable to us today? Well, the answer obviously
is yes. God didn't preserve this letter of Paul's
to Philemon for us if it didn't have some use
for us. And so what are the themes in the book?
You read it. What word or what themes come up
repeatedly throughout the letter? What else Well,
I think that would be in forgiveness you're saying
receiving I guess receiving back So that's part
of forgiveness Okay All right, what else Well
how about it's all about relationship right where
does forgiveness take place In a relationship,
okay, so we can't talk about about forgiveness
outside of a relationship What is it a master
and a slave? What is that? That's a relationship
We have a pastor and his church. What is that?
That's a relationship We have these other people
named in there because there's a relationship
there So whatever is going on here, we ought
to be able to take some application to our relationships
whatever they may be we can probably get some
good help on relationships. So if anybody here
struggles with relationships, then you've come
to the right book. You should get some help.
What about love? Did everybody hear love mentioned
repeatedly? It is interesting. Now what's the
point? Well, but where's the fellowship? In Christ.
Now we have a unique group of people here, right?
And one of the unique things about Believer's
Chapel is that a bunch of us are related by blood.
So raise your hand if you're related to a dickman
by blood. Okay, now that's a bunch of people.
So what is that? Are we at some disadvantage?
Does that make the ministry that goes on here
in church life particularly awkward or does it
make it better? Does it make it easier? Well,
what would the Apostle Paul expect? What he would
say is, that doesn't really matter. What matters
is, are you in Christ? Is that where your fellowship
is? Is that where the equality comes in? Is that
the thing that you see first? If you look out
here and you see family by blood, then you're
looking wrong. I don't know how else to tell
it to you. You're looking wrong. Now I love my
family. My family has done nothing but good for
me in my life. That's true. I look out here and
I'm preaching, I'm not seeing family. And I'm
not treating anybody differently because, or
better because of their family than I would anyone
else. And if I'm doing that, then I'm doing something
wrong. So to me, when I hear people lodge that
as a complaint, or they lodge that as a protest
against, well I don't want to go there because
you guys are all family. Well what kind of church
is it that you want to go to? where people find
their fellowship in something other than Christ?
You're saying that that's more important? That
that diminishes these people here because by
blood they're related? Their fellowship is in
Christ and they're pursuing Christ in their own
lives. And we're here to help them pursue Christ
in their lives and they're here to help me pursue
Christ in my life. We are equal not because we're
family by blood, we're equal because we're in
Christ. So anybody that lodges that complaint
to me, they get more than that, but that's sufficient.
So we're gonna get some help here, and hopefully
that answers that question for us. Now, what
is it to be a racist? What is a racist belief?
We hear that word all the time in our wolf culture
today, but what does it really mean? What does
a racist believe? Foundationally, what does he
believe? Okay, and those races are distinguished
by what? Well, that may be no that's not what
is it? Does a racist think that all races are
equal? Okay, so then what does a racist believe?
Okay, that there is a superior race. Now racism,
we think of it just in terms of black and white,
but the truth of the matter is that what did...
The Jew and the Gentile that's what two separate
entirely races now in the Old Testament. That's
true God's blessing fell on the Jews and everybody
else was outside of that blessing but fundamentally
and genetically Biologically was there anything
about the Jew that was different than the Gentile?
Was he superior because of his genetic makeup
to the Gentile? Okay So That eliminates, then,
any mistreatment of the Gentiles because of a
superior race or genetic code. What about the
Greeks? If you were a Greek, then you were what?
The superior race. What was everybody else? Barbarians.
Now when you think of a barbarian, also in America
with the great pioneer spirit, we might think
kind of highly of a barbarian. Somebody that
just by brute force goes about and makes his
life. But that's not what they meant by it. But
then what about our British ancestors and our
European ancestors? How were they raised? Uniquely
to them. What did they believe? They believed
in something called what? Divine right. Now what
does that tell you? What is this fascination
with royals all about? It still kind of lingers
on today. It's disgusting. It's sickening to
me. Absolutely atrocious. How those things found
their way over here into the hearts of Americans.
But what's at the core of it? What is at the
core of this fascination with the royals? It's
this idea of divine right. Now what is divine
right? What do the royals believe about themselves?
Why are they the kings? Why are they the ruling
class? Because there's something fundamentally
in their genetic code that makes them superior
to all the rest. So the next time you want to
buy into this Love for Princess Diana and all
the rest of the princes and the princesses and
the kings and the queens just be done with it
Be done with it. It's not just goofy stuff. They
really believe it Now I've always revealed to
you the sources that I use in my study so tonight
I forgot to bring my books, but the Trinity Foundation,
Tim Robbins, wrote a most excellent, very short
commentary on Philippians. And then I used my
pulpit commentary by Mu, or not on Philippians,
on Philemon, on Mu about Philemon. So those are
my two. Now if you're not familiar with the Trinity
Foundation, then you should be. And if you're
not familiar with... I wish I would have remembered
it, because I was going to read through the titles
of the various books that they put out. But they
put out it, and they still put out the newsletter.
Is that right? It's still in business. It's an
organization that's worthy of your support. Now,
they're Presbyterians. And so if you're going
to get their stuff, be prepared. They're going
to tell you all about covenant children and the
covenants and all the rest of that. But there's
one thing that they are not afraid to do, and
that's to make lots of people mad. because they're
not afraid or ashamed at all to defend scripture
and they're not afraid to call out error where
it is. They're not afraid at all to demonstrate
in what's going on in the so -called church their
movement towards Catholicism. They call them
out on it. There was one, what was it? A warning
against Pat Robertson or something like that.
Can you imagine in the 80s putting that out?
But that's the Trinity Foundation. And that's
what we need. We need these strong, stalwart
men who are not afraid to be hated. So hopefully
you men here, that's what you aspire to. I'm
willing to be hated by the world because I'm
going to take a stand for Jesus. And if the world
hates me, so be it. But I'm not going to just
sluff anything off. I'm not just going to say
it doesn't really matter. I'm going to say this
matters. And I'm going to take my stand. So we're
going to take our stand here in Philemon, and
we're going to say without any equivocation,
without any hesitancy, and without any room for
misinterpretation, that if you understand the
apostle Paul's argument here in the book of Philemon,
he is destroying any idea that the church is
pro -slavery, or that the New Testament is pro
-slavery, or that slavery doesn't matter. He
is absolutely without question anti -slavery.
All right, let's get into the book. He says,
Paul, a prisoner of Jesus Christ. Now, can anybody
think of any other letter that Paul writes where
he signs his name as a prisoner? No, there's
that one. I won't let you name them all. He doesn't
have any questions. Calling him saying that he's
a prisoner, but he never does he sign his name
Paul a prisoner of Jesus Christ now in these
letters That's like the salutation that would
be like me. I write you a letter, and I would
say regards the prisoner Dave Right out here,
and they just signed it at the beginning of the
letter, so what does that do? Right off the bat.
What's he doing? Why does he do that? Was it
just accidental? Does anybody here think that
was accidental? Does anybody here think he had
a hope list? He could have said apostle. He could
have said the most Jew of any Jew. He could have
said the worst sinner that's ever been converted.
He could have said maybe, you know, he had all
these options and he just kind of boom. Being
a prisoner, being a slave, both kinds of bondage.
Okay. So immediately, right off the bat, he identifies
himself as what? A person that, now was he in,
why was he in prison? Okay, if we had to say
justly or unjustly, where would we put him? Unjustly.
So here's a guy that, not because of anything
that he's done, is in prison. Now why was 99
% or maybe 100 % of the slaves in Rome, why were
they slaves? Was it something that they had done?
It might have been because of who their parents
were. It might have been because they weren't
strong enough to resist the military power of
Rome. But in either case, it wasn't because they
were criminals and now they're slaves. So that's
an immediate, right off the bat, the first thing
that the Apostle Paul does is he reminds Philemon
what? Some people are in chains and it doesn't
have anything to do with anything that they've
done. It's unjust. And that probably would be
enough, wouldn't it? You can't even read the
first line without saying that the New Testament
is not pro -slavery, but okay. A prisoner of
Jesus Christ and Timothy our brother, Antiphilemon
our dearly beloved, and what? Why do you say
that? What does that do? What does that do to
Philemon? Who is in charge of Philemon? Is there
any other authority in his life? instruct Philemon
in the name of Christ, but the authority is from
Christ. And so both Paul and Philemon are what?
They're slaves. They're slaves of Christ. They're
laborers. Again, that's just another close identification
with Onesimus. So the letter is written to who?
One thing about Timothy. What was Timothy? No?
So he was what? He was a half Greek. He was half
Greek and half Jew. And Paul puts him right in
there in the letter. Now it could be because
he's with him. It could have been... for any
number of reasons, but the fact that he puts
this half -Jew, half -Greek guy in the letter,
again, it has to be, it has to remind Philemon
that there is no such thing as a superior race,
that Timothy is not going to come behind anybody
because he's half -Jew and half -Greek. But the
letter is written to Philemon, and then what?
Nobody else sent any of these other people. Apphia,
Archippus, and the church and his house. Why?
Why didn't anybody say that? We don't know anything
about that. We don't know anything about that.
We know very little about Philemon. We know less
about Onesimus. Well, all the letter is written
in what, in what part of, what tense of, or no,
what is it? First, second, or third person, what
are those, Cheryl? Those are tenses. Okay, what
tense? Huh? No. First. First person. And what
is the, what is the pronoun that's used? And
who does he address throughout the letter? You.
So throughout the letter, he's talking to one
specific person. Then why does he include these
other people in there? Okay, so what does that
tell us? It's relevant to us. Why was it relevant
both to Philemon who was the pastor of the church
and to these other two people, whether they're
related to him or not, we don't know, and to
the whole church? Relationship. And what one
person does in a relationship affects everybody
else that's in that relationship. And whatever
Philemon had done, whatever it is that was the
cause of this letter, it was public enough that
Paul was addressing it privately, behind closed
doors, sending sweet little notes here, whispers
in the dark. Let's find a back room where we
can have some privacy. Is that the way he dealt
with it? Why was he dealing with it publicly?
Well, how do we deal with public sins? It's happened
here. I've had to, what? When I was harsh with
somebody or said something I shouldn't have said,
what do I do? How? Publicly. So what does that
tell us? What is Paul instructing us here? Public
sins are dealt with publicly. Private sins we
can deal with privately. But when something is
public, then it needs to be dealt with publicly.
Right? Are we all on that page? So what's going
on here? What do we call this in our modern church?
He shudders to think of any more open letters.
Well, there's discipline going on here, isn't
it? That's really what's going on. Paul is trying
to get Philemon on the right page, right? So
if there's ever been a case for a case study
of church discipline, this is where it is. This
is how you deal with it. This is your expectation
and this is there, you know, there is no There
is no second way or third way or 14 different
options Paul's laying out for us how it works
Now just because Philemon has messed up and it's
going to have to be publicly corrected Does that
reduce the amount of love that Paul has for him?
Does his expectation of Philemon decrease because
he messed up? It doesn't, doesn't. Paul is optimistic
about the future, isn't he? Why? Well, he tells
us why. Grace. Grace to you and peace from God
our Father and our Lord Jesus Christ. God has
made Philemon right in Christ Jesus. He's brought
peace into his life and Paul expects that that
grace and that peace that he has is going to
manifest itself in the right way. That there's
going to be a good outcome here. That Paul is
going to follow the Lord and do things the Lord's
way and so is Philemon and there's going to be
a good outcome to this whole thing. Now if you
don't look that way in the relationships in your
life then you are missing the boat. If you don't
look that way at your own life, then you're missing
the boat. There's no reason for anyone to be
despondent about their future if they're a Christian.
There's all kinds of, you can't think of all
the reasons the world ought to be despondent
about their future. Because a future outside
of Christ is what? It's hard. It's painful. It's
unfulfilling. It leads to despair. It is full
of problems. But the life in Christ, with God
at your side guiding and directing you, fellowshiping
with you, gives you great hope for the future
in this world and certain hope for the world
to come. Paul is filled up with it. He says,
I thank my God, making mention of thee always
in my prayers. And then what's he praying for?
Somebody tell me. What's Paul praying for? We'll
have to skip verse five and go to verse six.
Making mention of thee in my prayers that the
communication of thy faith may become effectual
by the acknowledging of every good thing which
is in you in Christ Jesus. What's he expected?
What does that mean? When you read that? What
does that mean? Is it possible to preach the
gospel? To teach God's Word and not have it accomplished
what God set it out to do. Is God just sitting
up in heaven? Oh, I hope this works. Is that
how it goes? So when the gospel goes forth It
accomplishes whatever it is that God wants it
to accomplish. Every time. What is the usual
thing that happens when the gospel is preached
to a room full of ungodly, unconverted people?
They reject it. That's what they do. But what
does the Word accomplish? Judgment. If you are
going to dedicate your life to the proclamation
of the gospel, what you are doing 90, 95, 99
% of the time is bringing more judgment onto
the hearers. They're going to be judged more
harshly by God in hell because they've heard
the gospel repeatedly. It would be better, in
other words, for a person who was going to go
to hell to lock themselves in a cage somewhere
and never hear the gospel. Their eternity in
hell would be better. But who's going to believe
if the word is not preached? Right? And so, the
other thing that is accomplished when the gospel
is preached is sometimes there's somebody who
is made ready to hear and they embrace Jesus
as their savior. So we preach the gospel without
hesitation, unashamedly, knowing that we're bringing
judgment into the lives of most of the people
that hear it, unless most of the people that
hear are Christians. So Paul's not praying and
asking that the word preach would have the effect
that God wants it to have. That's going to happen.
What's he praying for? Philemon's life to testify
that the grace within him is a marvelous, a miracle,
a wonderful, an amazing thing. And he wants everybody
around him to know that every good thing that
he does comes from where? His superior race?
His superior status as a slave owner? No. That
everything that is good in him comes from Christ
Jesus. He is asking, he's praying God to God
that by Lehman's testimony, his conversation,
his lifestyle, whatever word you want to use
would back up the truth of what he preaches in
his pulpit and what he teaches on the streets.
That's his prayer. Now why is it that he is thankful
for him and mentions him always in his prayer?
What's he heard about him? That's found in verse
5. What does he have? Love and faith. Okay. Towards
who? The Lord. Jesus. And? All the saints. So
he has faith towards the saints. Those of you
that have said it, is that what you think? How
are we going to understand this verse? It's what
it says, right? Hearing of thy love and faith
which thou hast toward the Lord Jesus and towards
all the saints. Do you have a new King James?
What do you have? I assume you have the same
word order as me. And who has a new American
standard? Anybody? What does that say? What's
the word order there? Do you have the same order?
Faith and love towards the Lord Jesus and all
the saints. So why does Paul mention love first?
And who is that love directed towards? Fine,
I'll give it to you. Faith and faith which thou
hast towards the Lord Jesus. Okay, that goes
together. Faith towards the Lord Jesus. Love
towards all the saints. So do we have the two
on the outside and the two on the inside? What's
that called in Hebrew writing? It's a chiasm.
I know my dad's over here, he's having a fit.
But that's how it works. But why did Paul put
love first? That's the question. He could have
said, I love to hear about your faith in the
Lord Jesus and the way that faith manifests itself
in your love towards the saints. He says that
in other places. Why doesn't he say it here?
He just wanted to show his prowess as a Hebrew
poet. His mastery of the Hebrew language and
his ability to bring that Hebrew poetic structure
into the Greek and writing. Is that why? Why
did he put love first? What does Paul anticipate
is going to rule the day in Philemon? Love. You're
doing so good is what he's saying. You're loving
these people. You let the whole church meet in
your house. You sacrificially give of yourself
to teach them, to pastor and to shepherd them.
You love these people. And it's evident in their
lives. Your love is good. It's good for them.
But it's not in this one area, right? That's
why he puts it first. He expects that Philemon
is going to let love rule the day. Is there anything
that we do as Christians? That is outside of
love that pleases the Lord Now that we all say
oh absolutely not But when we say that what what
do we do we condemn ourselves Because who here
can say that they've ever lived a day. Maybe
we could say who's ever lived an hour Maybe we
could say who's ever lived a quarter of an hour
and hasn't done something outside that is motivated
by love. It's easy to say and we all know it
to be true. The question is do we allow that
love to rule our lives the way that we ought
to? Do we allow that to rule our relationships
the way that it ought to? Love should rule the
day. Not my rights. Not my proclivities to be
offended by any slight little thing. Not my desire
for vengeance or to be treated right or to be
acknowledged. But love will rule the day in your
relationship. And if you have relationships that
are struggling, whatever they are, The problem
isn't that nobody has recognized your rights.
And the problem isn't that somebody hasn't acknowledged
their offense. The problem is that love hasn't
ruled the day. So Paul puts that first and foremost,
the thing that I love about you Philemon is your
love for the saints. Let that rule the day. Why
is it that he has love for the saints? Because
he's believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, and he's
been put into the Lord Jesus Christ. And it's
God's love that's been put into him, and it's
God's love that then flows through him to all
these other people. God's love is not complete
when it rests in you. It hasn't accomplished
its purpose. That's the first step on the train
ride to destination. That love comes to you and
it finds its home then in other people. Or it
finds its home back to God. But never just to
you. Never. So that's the answer to Jake's question.
So Paul's saying, I want this to happen. Then
he assures them in verse 7, we have great joy
and consolation in thy love because of the The
vows of the saints are refreshed by thee, brother.
It's been so good for these people. And everybody
here loves to hear the stories, the testimonies.
We love to hear it. Now go on in this other part
of your life. Now he says in verse eight, wherefore,
now what does wherefore mean? It takes three
words, replaces three words, usually. Not always,
but usually. Because of this. which is why. Therefore,
they would be closer. Though I might be much
bold in Christ to enjoin thee that which is fitting,
yet for love's sake, again, there it is, I rather
beseech thee. So, why is it, when you read that,
does that? The Apostle Paul is asserting some
kind of authority, isn't he? I could just tell
you what to do. I could command you, Philemon,
if I wanted to. Now, is that true? Yeah. Okay.
Let's have our view of Paul the Apostle where
it ought to be. Paul could just lay down the
law, and what would Philemon's response be, or
what should it have been? Okay, I'll do it. Is
that going to guarantee that it's going to be
done out of love, though? Is that going to demonstrate
to anybody else that this was done out of love?
And the answer is no. But I could. In Christ.
So where does all of Paul's authority come from?
Christ. Who's the Lord of his church. Who's Paul's
boss. Okay, but he's got to beseech him and the
first thing then that he says beseech or appeal
I'm going to appeal to you in this way as Paul
the old man So what does that mean? What do you
read that? What do you think does everybody have
old man? Well, how's that appeal? Is he just
saying feel sorry for me because I'm old and
decrepit Is that the argument? Do what I want
because I'm so old and I only got a few years
left. Well, what's the argument? That's obviously
not it. No? That would fall the same way as the
authority. It would be akin to him saying, trust
me because I'm old and wise. Just do what I'm
telling you to do. Well, what happens when you
get old? What do you need? And where was Paul's
help coming from? Okay. I'm an old man, finally,
and this young man here, Onesimus, has been helping
me. He's been a great help to me, but what am
I doing? I'm sending him back. The very thing
that I need and is helpful to me, it's been such
a joy to have him here helping me. I'm sending
him back. And then, does everybody have this
in their Bibles? And now also a prisoner of Jesus
Christ. Everybody have now also? So then, what
are those two words? Why are they in there? We've
already heard that Paul's a prisoner. But why
the now also? Well who's the also with, Charlie?
Who else is a slave? Who else is a prisoner?
We've said it all night. Who is it? No. Me? Yeah.
Onesimus? Onesimus. He's also a prisoner with
Onesimus. But then he uses the word now. Why
do you suppose he uses the word now? He's already
said he was a prisoner. Is that just redundant?
He just forgot that he told him earlier and so
now he's reminding him again that now I'm a prisoner.
What does the word now mean? Okay, but he's already
said that he was. What does it anticipate or
what does it leave open as a possibility? Something
different could happen right now. This is what
I am. So late at night I say, now I'm tired.
What is it, what am I thinking though? I'm going
to wake up tomorrow and I'm not going to be tired
anymore. Something has changed within me because
something has happened. Now, if Paul can go from
prisoner to free, who else can go from prisoner
to free? plants the seed directly in Philemon's
mind that just because somebody is something
today doesn't mean that that person is going
to be that same thing tomorrow. Now, where have
we all experienced that? If you're a Christian
today, where have you experienced that? So what
happened in conversion? He went from dead to
alive. He went from a God -hater to a God -lover.
He went from a rebel to a slave. A willing and
eager slave. That's a change. That's a radical
change. And that's the exact change that Paul
is hinting at here in verse 11 when he says,
was to the unprofitable, but now he's profitable.
Now what is it about profitable and unprofitable?
Why does he use that word? How can we not mistake
what Paul is saying there? Are those slightly
different? Those kind of veer off, but they're
pretty close to the same. You can't be one while
you're the other, is that right? You can't be
unprofitable while you're profitable. You can't
be dead while you're alive. Paul's saying something
has happened here and it's completely and radically
different from what it used to be. There's been
a change that's happened in Onesimus. Okay, so
there's his first two appeals. Old man, and he's
a prisoner also, with Onesimus. And he's also
planted in Philemon's mind this idea that just
because a person is a slave today doesn't mean
he has to be a slave tomorrow. But then he uses
what's his next appeal. I beseech thee for my
son Onesimus. Now what's he saying? How is Paul
Onesimus's father? It's from an illegitimate
relationship that he had before he was converted.
Is that what we think? Well, I mean, that's one
option. Come on, what's the obvious answer? His
son in the faith. Okay. It's through Paul's ministry
and declaration of the gospel that Onesimus has
come to know the Lord. And in that sense, then,
the Apostle Paul is his father. imagine then
Paul sending him back now that's true okay just
so we are Paul's not making this up well what's
gonna happen if he sends Onesimus back to Philemon
and Philemon makes him his slave again who's
he made a slave Paul's son Can you imagine that?
Think of the person who preached the gospel when
you finally heard it. And it radically changed
your life. And then imagine having that person's
son and making him your slave to do whatever
you tell him to do whenever you tell him to do
it and exactly how you tell him to do it until
you tell him to stop. That's unthinkable, isn't
it? Would anybody here do that or think that
that's a good idea? But that's exactly what Philemon
is going to have to do when he gets Onesimus
back if he puts him back into servitude. He's
putting Paul's son into servitude. Then the fourth
thing is what? Well when this radical change
happened to Onesimus What happened to Onesimus
and Philemon? Their relationship changed. They're
brothers. So now, you've got this brother, you've
got this relationship with this man that exceeds
any other relationship. Blood, or socioeconomic,
or where, what country, or where are your borders?
None of those things matter as much as are you
in Christ and really that's the only thing that
matters We kind of get okay, I'm just gonna throw
this out there. We'll talk about it next week
We'll finish this up verse 13 whom I would have
retained with me that in my stead He might have
ministered unto me in the bonds of the gospel.
So what's he saying? I would have liked to have
kept him here. He is helpful to me, but I'm not
going to do that. Then in verse 14, he says,
but without thy mind I would do nothing. That
thy benefit, or that the good thing that you're
going to do, would not be of necessity, but willingly.
And then in verse 19, Yes, verse 19, I, Paul,
have written it with my own hands. I will pay
it. Whatever he owes you, I'll pay it. Albeit,
I don't say to thee, how thou oweest me even
thy own self beside. Now, what's he talking about
there? He's finally his father, too. No. Thank
you, though, for being brave and courageous.
I'm with Jake. You're with Jake? Yeah. We don't
know why. What we do know is that Philemon owes
his life to Paul. So in whatever kind of way
it was that the Apostle Paul saved Philemon's
life, he has a right to put upon Philemon this
idea that you owe me. And it's not because he
preaches him the gospel. That's nowhere else.
Is that? Who? Have you ever seen it? Have you
ever heard me say that? People have been converted
to this church. Have you ever heard me say, Liz
Dickman, you owe me your life because you heard
the gospel. Well, Paul's not exerting his, he's
not saying that he's going to do it, but he's
saying that he could. Now the idea is simple
enough. If somebody saves your life and pulls
you out of the river, what are you going to do
for that person? I don't know if you've ever
seen the movie White Christmas. But in that movie,
what? The building falls on the guy and hurts
his shoulder because he's pushing the other guy
out of the way. And the entire rest of the movie
is what? Every time the guy's like, no, we're
not going to do that, the other guy, oh, my shoulder.
OK, fine, then we'll do it. Now that's just the
reality of life, right? Somebody does something
that significant for you in your life, you're
gonna do whatever you can to repay that debt.
And if it comes to, I would be dead if it wasn't
for the action that you took towards me. Then
what is the limit of what you're going to be
willing to help or do for that person? So, the
Apostle Paul is saying, I'm not going to use
that at all. I could. I could use my apostolic
authority. I could remind you that I saved your
life, and I could demand on either one of those
cases that you do what I tell you to do, but
I'm not going to do that. So then, hopefully
that will help you think about what the final
appeal is. and what it is that Paul anticipates
is going to happen when Olesimus goes back. So
think about that this week and come back and
be prepared to talk about it. Next Wednesday
we'll finish this up. And then after this, and
if it doesn't take us all week next week, then
we'll figure something out. We'll see how much
time we have. After we're done with Philemon,
then we're going to do a how should I take notes
on Wednesdays and Sunday mornings. It's been
something that's been bothering me for years.
And I don't know if I've been stubborn against
the Lord, but I'm just going to do it now so
that I can be finally done thinking about it.
I think it will be helpful. So that's the other
thing that you can think about. If you haven't
thought about note taking, like what am I trying
to accomplish? Why am I taking notes? Then you
should think in those terms, and then hopefully
we can get some help. on what it is we're trying
to do when it comes to Wednesday and Sundays.
And then after that, so that'll be two weeks
and then the third week then we're gonna get
into first Samuel, that's the plan. And then
Tim sent out an email. Did everyone get that
email? If you haven't gotten that email, check
your email and make sure that you come prepared
on Sunday for that.