Philemon

Journey Through the Bible Philemon

introduction

This morning we continue on our Journey

and we come to the Letter that Paul writes Philemon

although it is just a few verses long- it has a powerful Message

it is the message of Forgiveness

which is ultimately the message of the gospel

and there are 2 aspects of forgiveness I want us to look at this morning

1.) Unforgiveness will destroy the believer

to illustrate this I want you to think about a little girl getting her ear pierced

every once in a while the ear will get infected

only way for it to heal is to remove the ear ring

Same is true for the believer

only way to Heal from teh wrong that has been done to you is to forgive

but the second aspect I want you to see

2.) THE forgiveness that damns the unbeliever

And we will talk about this at length in a moment

but basically

what does it look like to forgive one who is not really sorry only sorry that he Got Caught

that is a difficult question to answer

so lets look to the word this morning

So lets begining reading together in vs 1

Philemon 1–16 NKJV

Paul, a prisoner of Christ Jesus, and Timothy our brother, To Philemon our beloved friend and fellow laborer, to the beloved Apphia, Archippus our fellow soldier, and to the church in your house: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. I thank my God, making mention of you always in my prayers, hearing of your love and faith which you have toward the Lord Jesus and toward all the saints, that the sharing of your faith may become effective by the acknowledgment of every good thing which is in you in Christ Jesus. For we have great joy and consolation in your love, because the hearts of the saints have been refreshed by you, brother. Therefore, though I might be very bold in Christ to command you what is fitting, yet for love’s sake I rather appeal to you—being such a one as Paul, the aged, and now also a prisoner of Jesus Christ—I appeal to you for my son Onesimus, whom I have begotten while in my chains, who once was unprofitable to you, but now is profitable to you and to me. I am sending him back. You therefore receive him, that is, my own heart, whom I wished to keep with me, that on your behalf he might minister to me in my chains for the gospel. But without your consent I wanted to do nothing, that your good deed might not be by compulsion, as it were, but voluntary. For perhaps he departed for a while for this purpose, that you might receive him forever, no longer as a slave but more than a slave—a beloved brother, especially to me but how much more to you, both in the flesh and in the Lord.

Philemon 1–7 NKJV

Paul, a prisoner of Christ Jesus, and Timothy our brother, To Philemon our beloved friend and fellow laborer, to the beloved Apphia, Archippus our fellow soldier, and to the church in your house: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. I thank my God, making mention of you always in my prayers, hearing of your love and faith which you have toward the Lord Jesus and toward all the saints, that the sharing of your faith may become effective by the acknowledgment of every good thing which is in you in Christ Jesus. For we have great joy and consolation in your love, because the hearts of the saints have been refreshed by you, brother.

This morning in this letter that Paul is writing to Philemon

he shares with us a couple of things...

first we see the

The Report (1-7)

That is Paul is giving us the story of what has Transpired

So Paul is writing to Philemon

Philemon is a weathly Christian in the church of Collossea that we read about in Collossians

He is a layman in the Church

and he has a wonderful family

it is believed that Apphia was his wife and ARchippus was the son

they are a wonderful christian family

and there is actually a church in their home where their son is the the pastor of this house church

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Paul and Philemon had become friends on one of pauls missionary journeys

and Philemon became a believer

and now Paul is writing to Philemon his friend on BEhalf of a man Named Oneismus

but Notice as he is writing philemon

he is not necassarily writing out of Authority

no doubt he had authority as an apostle of Jesus Christ

but here in this Letter he is Writing out of LOVe or Compassion

We see this in verse one

He doesnt say Paul and apostle of Jesus christ like most of his other letters

but instead

he writes Paul a Prisoner of Christ Jesus

to Philemon our BELOVED friend

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He is writing to Philemon out of Love in the Faith to tell him about this Man Onesimus

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Onesimus is a slave and he is not just any slave

but he is Philemons slave

and what Onesimus has done is he has stole money from Philemon

and ran away from Philemon

HE is a Run Away Slave

and he ran away to Rome

and as he gets into rome He runs into Paul who is in prison

most likely Oneismus gets into trouble and finds himself in Jail

but either way

he runs into Paul and Paul Doing what Paul does- Shares the Gospel

and onesimus is Radically SAVED by Gods’ Grace

that is what he says in v11

where it says he was once unprofitable

but now is profitable

or also translated

who once was unuseful but is now useful

once was unbeneficial but Now Beneficial

who once was lost but Now is Saved

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this is true of every believers life before and after Christ

Before Christ you are unprofitable

you are unuseful

unhelpful

But now after salvation After you KNOW Christ

NO LONGER are you purposeless

but you are purposeful!!

You Now have purpose in the kingdom of HEAVEN

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So paul is telling the story about Onesimus the run away Slave

How he met him

how He shared the Gospel

how he became a Believer

he is no longer a Slave BUT a brother in Christ

and he moves from the report

to the Request

The Request (8-22)

Philemon 17–22 ESV

So if you consider me your partner, receive him as you would receive me. If he has wronged you at all, or owes you anything, charge that to my account. I, Paul, write this with my own hand: I will repay it—to say nothing of your owing me even your own self. Yes, brother, I want some benefit from you in the Lord. Refresh my heart in Christ. Confident of your obedience, I write to you, knowing that you will do even more than I say. At the same time, prepare a guest room for me, for I am hoping that through your prayers I will be graciously given to you.

philemon

Here Paul moves from the Praise Report

to the pratical Request

this is where the rubber meets the Road for Philemon as a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ

Paul says

if you count me as a Partner- a brother in Christ

a fellow Laborer of the Gospel

Then in the same way You receive me

Receive Him Oneismus

Now remember who onesimus is

he is more than an acquantance

but he is one who has stolen from Philemon

He is one who has hurt his family

he is one who has done HIM wrong

And get this

now Paul a brother in Christ Has Sent Onesimus this run away Slave back to philemon with this LEtter in Hand

askign Philemon to forgive and to receive Onesimus in the same way he would Receive paul

not as a slave

not as one who has stolen from him

not as one who has done him wrong

but to receive him as A BROTHER in CHRIST

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This is where the rubber meets the road for philemon in his Christian life

this is easy for paul to request

this is easy for others to look at Philemon and say this is the right thing to Do

but when you are Philemon

this is not an EASy action

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and paul knows this

this i swhy he says in v 8

although I could command you as an apostle to receive onesimus

I dont command you but I appeal to you for the sake of Love

and then v18 he says

if onesimus has wronged you or taken from you in anyway

put that on my account

for I will repay YOU

For it is my requesrt as your brother in Christ

receive Onesimus

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and now remeber Onesimus is one of the people who is delivering the letter

what do you think is going through his mind at this time

how craxy do you think he thought this plan was

he has only been a believer for a short amount of time

so he is not spiritually mature in anyway

How many times do you think it crossed his MIND to run again

thinking there is no way this guy is going to Forgive me

Instead he is going to KILL me

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but paul writes in v21

that he has full confidence that Philemon will obey and do even more than he asked

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there is no record of how Philemon Responds

but the emphasis is not som Much on the Response of Philemon

but instead

the expectation for the Believer

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That is for in the same way you have been forgiven

you forgive others

And we see this principle in Paul

Just as he offers to pay for the debt that Onesimus had racked up

this is exactly what Christ has done for us

and in a similiar we are to do for others

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So we see Paul’s Praise Report

and then we see his Practical Request

but the real question is what does this trulu look like in the life of a Believer

because sometimes as a believer all we hear is that we have to forgive because Christ Has forgiven us

which is absolutely truth

but Forgiveness goes even deeper than the surface level I forgive YOU

that is most defenintley where it starts

but that is not where it ends there is so much more

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First we will start with the believer and the illustration I shared with you at the Begining

For the believer if you are not willing to forgive another

it will cause an infection in your life

that will eat away at your soul

in the same way

that when an piearced ear is infected by an ear ring

before the infection can ever heal

first the ear ring has to be Removed

and in the same way

before a believer can be fully healed of the wrong that has been done to him or her

you have to Forgive

For not forgiving someone is like drinking Poison hoping for the other person to die

but instead it only kills you

it only harms YOU

Unforgiveness leads to bitterness and bitterness leads to sin and misery

it is only forgiveness that Can Heal

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and that part is what we have all heard

but Now I want to go a little deeper to fully understand what paul is saying

Here Paul is requesting Philemon to forgive onesimus

because Paul has witnessed the change in Onesimus life

He fully believes that onesimus has Changed

because he has wtched him change

he no longer acts the same way

talks the same way

he no longer believes the same thing

he is not riting to philemon hoping that Onesimus has changed

but he is writing philemon stating that onesimus Has changed

for paul would have never spoke on behalf of another brother who he has not witnessed the changed

but with onesimus he had first hand witness the gospel change in his Life a

and he request Philemon to receive him

and forgive him for what he has done

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the question is what about the person who hasnt Changed

the one who has wronged you

stolen from you

who has harmed you

the one who has changed

hasnt asked for forgiveness

or if they have it is not with repentance

it is more out of I am sorry I got caught can you forgive me??

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Have you ever experienced that type of Person

They just go on and on about how sorry they are

but really and truly they are only sorry because they Got Caught

we see this with Judas when he betrayed Jesus

He was Sorry

he tried to give back the money

he was so sorry he killed himself

but Judas was never repent

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So the question is as a believer what are you to Do when someone like that is in your life

One who is not even truly askign forgiveness

or if they do it is in this way

I am sorry I hurt your Feelings

When you say that all you are doing is pulling the other person into your sin

basically that is sayign the real problem is the other persons feeling not the sin

if the feelings would have been stronger and tougher there wouldnt be a Problem

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How do we as believers respond to those type of peoplew???

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Well the bible says

Just as Christ has forgiven you

you are to forgive others

Christ forgave the people who were unforgivable

he forgave the ones who was not asking for forgiveness

remeber on the cross

jesus says forgive them for they know not what they DO

So yes as a Believer we are to forgive the ones in our life who does us wrong

and the ones who are not even askinf forgiveness

We forgive but the bible teaches that is not whee it Ends

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for sins have consequences

and although we forgive it doesnt mean we trust them

for if You borrowed 5000 from me

and you never paid me back

I could forgive you

but I am not going to let you borrow money anymore

and people say well you havent truly forgiven

no I have forgiven I just dont trust him anymore

DO you see what I am Saying

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To understand this a little better we must look at pauls letter to the thessolonians

2 Thessalonians 3:6–15 NKJV

But we command you, brethren, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you withdraw from every brother who walks disorderly and not according to the tradition which he received from us. For you yourselves know how you ought to follow us, for we were not disorderly among you; nor did we eat anyone’s bread free of charge, but worked with labor and toil night and day, that we might not be a burden to any of you, not because we do not have authority, but to make ourselves an example of how you should follow us. For even when we were with you, we commanded you this: If anyone will not work, neither shall he eat. For we hear that there are some who walk among you in a disorderly manner, not working at all, but are busybodies. Now those who are such we command and exhort through our Lord Jesus Christ that they work in quietness and eat their own bread. But as for you, brethren, do not grow weary in doing good. And if anyone does not obey our word in this epistle, note that person and do not keep company with him, that he may be ashamed. Yet do not count him as an enemy, but admonish him as a brother.

2 thess 3:6-

notice the words that paul uses here

We command you brethren in the name of our Lord Jesus Chrsit

Withdraw from every brother who walks disorderly and not accordign to the tradition which he received from us

the word tradition refers to the word of God here in this Passage

He is speaking about the one who has done you wrong

the one who is living as an unbeliever

the one who is only sorry that he got caught

he is not repentant

for the pattern and practice of his life is sin and love of sin

to that Brother

to that person he says withdraw from HIM

v14 if anyone does not obey the word of God

do not keep company with him

WHY that he may be ashamed

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Now notice what it says

it doesnt say we are the one who are shaming him

No it is his sin that is shaming HIM

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for the whole Goal here is restoration

the whole goal here is a right relationship with Jesus

and if we are a Child we are to forgive the one who has done wrong but we are not to overlook or ignore their sin

because that sin if it is a pattern of their life

it is telling you they are not a believer and they need the lord Jesus Christ

and they will never see a need for Jesus

until they see their sin

and if you simply over look their sin or ignore their sin

Then they will never see their sin

they may even think that you are okay with your sin

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I hope this is not confusing

Stay with ME here

v 15 you are not doing this to make an enemy

btu instead you are trying admonish your brother in the Lord

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and truth be told we as believer miss this part of teaching on forgiveness

Yes most defintely we are called and commanded by God to forgive just as Christ has forgave

but in the same way we have been commanded by God

to Forgive and disassociate with those who live a life that is marked by SIN

with the hopes that they will be convicted by their sin

and come to a right relationship of JESUS

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SO this is a powerful Word

this is a powerful lesson about The message of JESUS CHRIST

Forgiveness

For we serve a God who is not only willing to Forgive

But he is absolutely eager to Forgive

remeber the story of the prodical son

when the father saw the son coming down the road

return home

What did the father do

HE ran to Him

He was so excited to see him

he was so excited to FORGIVE him

That is the father that we serve

and he looks to us as his children says

and in the same way I have forgiven you

You forgive others

For if you are not willing to forgive it will eat away your soul

and you will grow bitter and you grow miserable

and that person who you are not willign to forgive will have more power over you than at any other time in your life

but when you forgive

you are made free

and you become mor elike Christ