Well, we have wrapped up our previous series.

I had a few suggestions from you

ROMANS

PROVERBS

So here is what I am going to do:

We are going to look at a short NT book, Philemon, for the next few weeks.

Then we may go to the first 9 chapters of Proverb.

During that time, I will take a closer look at Romans and figure out how to proceed through it.

And, that is good advice for anyone who desires to teach.

Read what you want to teach.

Study it using other resources.

Mark out the controversial parts.

And decide if you are ready.

Nothing worse than getting started on book study and find yourself underwater!

So, we will see where it goes.

The Splendid Law

Okay, Philemon.

This is a short, single chapter book that has 25 verses.

A close examination will teach us a few things that are good to know.

The letter itself is dealing with a CONTROVERSIAL subject, well many, but a highly sensitive subject.

Paul finds himself in a bit of a situation.

He is in prison, who knows why, has become like a father to a man named Onesimus.

Paul: Apostle, in prison, like a father to Onesimus, author of the letter

Onesimus: Paul’s helper, Slave to Philemon

Philemon: Patron of a house church and Paul’s ministry

You can see the mess of the situation.

Paul is in jail, again, for who knows what reason.

While in jail, Paul meets Onesimus, we are not told the details of that, and Onesimus becomes a Christian and joins Paul’s ministry.

But, Onesimus is a slave to Philemon. Apparently, he is not with Philemon, we don’t know why, but he would be considered an AWOL slave.

Under Roman law, if you gave safe space to a slave, you too could be subject to punishment.

The greatest penalty was death, but that was not often meted out.

Philemon is part of a house church and apparently a patron of Paul, helping with expenses. He also seems to be a patron of his local church, which Paul helped get started.

It seems like Philemon does not know that Onesimus is with Paul.

So, aside from the slavery aspect, which we will talk about in a different message, Paul has a dilemma.

Roman law: You must return slaves to their masters

Deuteronomy 23:15: You shall not return a slave to his lord when he saved himself from his lord by coming to you.

Again, you can see the dilemma.

We are given no information as to how or why this situation occured.

No need to speculate here either. This is where everyone finds themselves.

What will Paul do.

Let’s read!

*****Philemon*****

Philemon BE:NT

Paul, a prisoner of King Jesus, and Timothy our brother: to our beloved Philemon, our colleague and partner, to Apphia our sister, and to Archippus our comrade-in-arms, and to God’s people who meet in their house. May grace and peace be upon you, from God our father and King Jesus the Lord. I always thank my God when your name comes up in my prayers, because I’ve heard of your love and faithful loyalty towards the Lord Jesus and to all God’s people. My prayer is this: that the partnership which goes with your faith may have its powerful effect, in realizing every good thing that is at work in us to lead us into the King. You see, my dear brother, your love gives me so much joy and comfort! You have refreshed the hearts of God’s people. Because of all this I could be very bold in the King, and order you to do the right thing. But, because of love, I’d much rather appeal to you—yes, it’s me, Paul, speaking, an old man as I am and now a prisoner of King Jesus! I am appealing to you about my child, the one I have fathered here in prison: Onesimus, ‘Mr Useful’. There was a time when he was useless to you; but now he’s very useful, to you and to me. I’m sending him to you for your decision—yes, sending the man himself; and this means sending my own heart. I would have liked to keep him here with me, so that he could have been your representative in serving me in the chains of the gospel. But I didn’t want to do anything without you knowing about it. That way, when you did the splendid thing that the situation requires, it wouldn’t be under compulsion, but of your own free will. Look at it like this. Maybe this is the reason he was separated from you for a while, so that you could have him back for ever—no longer as a slave, but much more than a slave, as a beloved brother, beloved especially to me, but how much more to you, both as part of your household and in the Lord. So, anyway, if you reckon me a partner in your work, receive him as though he was me. And if he’s wronged you in any way, or owes you anything, put that down on my account. This is me, Paul, writing with my own hand: I’ll pay you back (and far be it from me to remind you that you owe me your own very self!). Yes, my brother, I want some benefit from you in the Lord! Refresh my heart in the King. As I write this I’m confident that you’ll do what I say. In fact, I know you’ll do more than I say. But, at the same time, get a guest room ready for me. I’m hoping, you see, that through your prayers I will be granted to you. Epaphras, my fellow prisoner in King Jesus, sends you greetings. So do Mark, Aristarchus, Demas and Luke, my colleagues here. The grace of the Lord, King Jesus, be with your spirit.

Okay, we will cover the issue of slavery in a later message. For now, the culture that Paul, Philemon and everyone finds themselves in has slavery.

It was a system that existed in all ancient cultures around the world.

Philemon 1–3 BE:NT

Paul, a prisoner of King Jesus, and Timothy our brother: to our beloved Philemon, our colleague and partner, to Apphia our sister, and to Archippus our comrade-in-arms, and to God’s people who meet in their house. May grace and peace be upon you, from God our father and King Jesus the Lord.

For the subject matter, Paul finds no issue addressing the letter to the whole church.

You and I might send a private note, something just between Paul and Philemon.

But Paul thinks this issue important enough that he wants all the people to be aware of what happened.

Philemon 7–8 BE:NT

You see, my dear brother, your love gives me so much joy and comfort! You have refreshed the hearts of God’s people. Because of all this I could be very bold in the King, and order you to do the right thing.

You can see what Paul is setting up.

Look, I am in conflict with Roman law and God’s law.

But I will APPEAL to the GREATEST law

LOVE

I could, as an Apostle, command you to do the right thing.

But I won’t have to do that because you are a man full of love for your fellow believers.

At this point, the church has to be wondering:

What is Paul talking about?

Philemon 10 BE:NT

I am appealing to you about my child, the one I have fathered here in prison: Onesimus, ‘Mr Useful’.

Wait, Paul has a child?

Can you imagine the twitter response!

******* the one I fathered in prison

Oh my! What kind of prison is this (it is just house arrest)

Was it a boy/girl, who is the mother, all kinds of questions.

***** Onesimus

***** Mr Useful

You know, the slave of our friend Philemon.

Philemon 11 BE:NT

There was a time when he was useless to you; but now he’s very useful, to you and to me.

In other words, while was away, he was not Onesimus, but now he is VERY Onesimus to both of us!

Because, the GOSPEL, Right?

Philemon 12–13 BE:NT

I’m sending him to you for your decision—yes, sending the man himself; and this means sending my own heart. I would have liked to keep him here with me, so that he could have been your representative in serving me in the chains of the gospel.

Here is the rub: Paul trust’s Philemon to do the right thing.

But, he has violated the law in Deuteronomy.

Deut 23:15 ““You shall not give up to his master a slave who has escaped from his master to you.”

Paul is following something Jesus said.

- First, Love God

- Second, Love Neighbor

Paul would have liked to have kept him

That would have been following the law of Moses

But it would have been violating Roman law

BUT THERE IS A THIRD OPTION

Philemon 14 BE:NT

But I didn’t want to do anything without you knowing about it. That way, when you did the splendid thing that the situation requires, it wouldn’t be under compulsion, but of your own free will.

I could compel you to do the right thing.

Instead, I am going to compel you to MAKE A CHOICE.

Because, if you free him, then we are good with Rome and we are good with God.

Do the splendid thing required

By sending Onesimus back AND notifying the whole church

It puts some pressure on Philemon to do the right thing.

The pressure is pretty high on Philemon

And not knowing the circumstances, Onesimus is putting a ton of trust in Paul.

Now, relating this to our culture today, we are faced with many CHOICES

Paul created a hybrid option to deal with the situation.

For us, there are no many laws that conflict with our scriptures.

But there are POLITICS that do.

There are RELATIONSHIP decisions (DIVORCE)

The law says you have no obligation to help parents (WIDOWS)

How about the POOR. You pay your taxes and a portion help the POOR, do you oppose it?

Where will you place your loyalty?

The Splendid Law