Please turn this morning in your Bibles to the book of Philemon. The book of Philemon. If you're looking on in the Pew Bibles, that's found on page 1,000. This morning we're going to begin a new sermon series in the book of Philemon. It'll be a shorter series, obviously, because the book is short. But it's going to be good for us to consider this book of God's Word, especially in light of finishing up Colossians. For Colossians and Philemon are related in a lot of ways. Many of the same people are mentioned in this book of Philemon, as were mentioned in Colossians. And we also see some of the same thematic notes sounded in this book that are sounded in Colossians as well. And so this morning, we're going to read this entire letter, verses 1-25, but we're going to focus in on the first seven verses in the sermon. The book of Philemon. Give your attention now for this too is the reading of God's holy, infallible, inerrant Word. This is the final rule of your faith and your life. So give your ears to it. Paul, a prisoner for Christ Jesus. And Timothy, our brother. To Philemon, our beloved fellow worker. And Aphia, our sister. And Archippus, our fellow soldier. And the church in your house. Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. I thank my God always when I remember you in my prayers. Because I hear of your love, and of the faith that you have toward the Lord Jesus and for all the saints. And I pray that the sharing of your faith may become effective for the full knowledge of every good thing that is in us for the sake of Christ. For I have derived much joy and comfort from your love, my brother, because the hearts of the saints have been refreshed through you. Accordingly, though I am bold enough in Christ to command you to do what is required, yet for love's sake I prefer to appeal to you. I, Paul, an old man and now a prisoner also for Christ Jesus, I appeal to you for my child Onesimus, whose father I became in my imprisonment. Formerly he was useless to you, but now he is indeed useful to you and to me. I am sending him back to you, sending my very heart I would have been glad to keep Him with me in order that He might serve me on your behalf during my imprisonment for the gospel. But I prefer to do nothing without your consent in order that your goodness might not be by compulsion, but of your own accord." For this, perhaps, is why He was parted from you for a while, that you might have Him back forever, no longer as a bondservant, but more than a bondservant, as a beloved brother, especially to me, but how much more to you, both in the flesh and in the Lord. 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 hands. 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. Epaphras, my fellow prisoner in Christ Jesus, sends greetings to you, and so do Mark, Aristarchus, Demas, and Luke, my fellow workers. The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit. Thus far, the reading of God's word. May he bless also the preaching of it. Let us go to him in prayer and ask his blessing upon it. Dear Lord, we thank you for your word. We know that though the grass withers and the flower fades, your word endures forever. And Lord, we pray that you would profit your word to us this day, that you would give us heads and hearts to receive it. In Christ's name we pray. Amen. Well, people of God in Christ, as some of you know, my older brother and his family adopted two children from Africa in years past. And as I observed the whole adoption process of these two children, it really opened my eyes as to the amazing realities involved in such a thing like adoption. for these two children went from being two orphan children. In one case, the parents weren't even known, so there was not even a name. And these two children then went from being these orphan children without known origin, really, to being two Britain children. And so their status legally and relationally went through a radical transformation. And it should be of no surprise then that our triune God is pleased to reveal His salvation to us in terms of adoption. Indeed, adoption is one of the great benefits of our salvation, as we confessed earlier in the service. For in adoption, we have God's name placed on us. We have that visibly given to us in baptism as we are baptized in the name of God. And as we confess this morning, we're admitted then to all the liberties and privileges of being sons and daughters of God. Made heirs to all the promises of God. Fellow heirs with Christ in glory, we confessed. So you see, the Gospel changes our status before God. And in Christ, we're given a new status that leads us to relate to God, others, and the world in fundamentally different ways. One theologian puts it this way, quote, the gospel responds to status anxiety at the most profound level, one's relationship to God. The good news is that we do not have to acquire status for ourselves. Thanks to the work of Christ, we have a new status, a new legal standing before God. Those who are once strangers and aliens to God have been adopted into His family. Adoption is the operative concept, joining together both legal and relational status." This morning, as we come to this wonderful letter to Philemon, my prayer is that we'll vividly see the implications that God's love towards us in Christ has upon our status before God and before others. And this is truly how the Gospel changes everything and gives us a brand new vision of who we truly are and thus how we relate to each other at the most fundamental levels. And so to get our feet wet in this portion of our Father's Word to us, we're going to look at the setting of this book this morning, the greetings that open the book, and the thankful prayer we find in verses 4 through 7. So we're going to look at the setting, the greetings, and the thankful prayer this morning. And so first, we must understand something of the setting of this book in order for us to best understand this book. Philemon was a Christian man living in Colossae. He was likely quite wealthy, which explains why he was able to own slaves. And you know, one thing that this book confronts us with right away is the issue of slavery and what the Bible says about it. And we're going to talk about this more as we go along in this book. But suffice it to say here, that although still subject to problems in many ways, first century Greco-Roman slavery was quite a different institution than was the antebellum colonial slavery that we often think of when we think about slavery. It is colonial slavery in early America that we often think about, but it's important to understand that first century slavery was different than that. And we need to realize that in order to help us understand Paul's approach to Philemon here. Philemon owns slaves, but notice that is not at odds with Philemon's Christian profession in this setting. For Paul calls Philemon what? A beloved fellow worker. Paul tells of Philemon's love toward the Lord and toward the Lord's people. Paul says he has derived much joy and comfort from Philemon. So Philemon is a Christian in good standing, you see. And yet he does have slaves in the first century. And we'll say more about this later, but we need to understand that Philemon's owning of slaves was not in conflict here with his Christian profession. And so Philemon had slaves, and in particular he had a slave named Onesimus, as we learn from this letter. And we learn here that Onesimus was a rebellious runaway slave. And to be a runaway slave at this time meant you were in violation of the law, and you were subject to all the punishments of the law. Indeed, runaway slaves at this time are reported to have been tortured, or some even put to death for this crime. Well, in God's masterful providence, Onesimus ran far away from Philemon's house, but he ran right into the Apostle Paul. And the Apostle Paul didn't hand him back over to the authorities. Right? The Apostle Paul didn't rat him out. The Apostle Paul didn't beat him over the head with his crime, but rather, as we read, Paul became Onesimus's spiritual father in prison. He led Onesimus to faith in Christ when he ran into him. You see, Paul, being more concerned about the expansion of the heavenly kingdom rather than the preservation of the Greco-Roman kingdom, shared Christ with Onesimus rather than sharing Onesimus with the authorities. And thus the Lord opened Onesimus' heart to Christ Jesus. And so now we read in this letter the apostle Paul in what is a move that only can be explained with the gospel, wants to send Onesimus back to his owner, as we read. And I say that this can only be explained with the gospel because Paul tells us that he would have been glad to keep him around. For Onesimus was helping out the apostle Paul with ministry. He was serving on behalf of the gospel. And so Paul could have just easily forgotten about Onesimus' past and where he came from and just pressed on with him and served with Onesimus in his imprisonment and beyond. But instead, Paul wants to send him back. And this could have potentially meant very bad punishment for Onesimus. Yet the gospel fuels Paul's desire here to allow Onesimus the benefit of knowing how the gospel can heal and transform the past, not by simply running away from it, but by confronting it and by facing it. by coming to terms with it. See, Paul knows the power of the Gospel to repair and to reform. Not by concealing or by hiding or by running away, but by facing those things such as Onesimus faces now. And so the essence of this letter is that Paul appeals to his brother in the Lord, Philemon, to receive back his rebellious runaway slave. But not to receive him back as a rebellious runaway slave, but to receive him back as a brother in Christ. to receive him in a way that is in accordance with Onesimus' new status, with his new identity in Christ, and thus receive him back in a way that's radically different than any of the societal norms of the time. And so that is Paul's heart in this letter, to see the new identities of Onesimus and Philemon expressed in a very concrete way, in a very tangible way, and thus to see the gospel formed in these brothers at a very deep and abiding level. And so we see that right from the get-go of this letter. And so now, secondly, we're going to look at the greeting of this letter. Paul, notice right from the beginning, begins his greeting by calling himself a prisoner for Christ Jesus. This is the only letter where Paul uses that designation for himself, a prisoner. Sometimes he calls himself a bondservant or a slave. Here he calls himself a prisoner. Oftentimes, he just refers to himself as an apostle and draws attention to that status that he has in the Lord. But here, he draws attention to his status as a prisoner of Christ Jesus. And indeed, Paul writes as one who is in prison. But I submit that there's more to this than simply that Paul is in jail. It's not less than that, but it's more than that. Rather, given that Paul is appealing to Philemon regarding a slave, Paul is placing here a title on himself that should really draw attention to the sacrifice he has made on behalf of the gospel so that he can earn a better and most likely a more sympathetic hearing for what he is appealing Philemon to do. Paul is saying, I'm a prisoner for Christ. Paul is drawing attention to the sacrifice he has made on behalf of the Lord Jesus and the gospel. Martin Luther once wrote this about the greeting here. He said, quote, Paul empties himself of his rights to compel Philemon also to waive his rights in the gospel, end quote. The Apostle Paul identifies himself here as one in a place of weakness, as he writes on behalf of one who is in a place of weakness, that is Onesimus. Moreover, he really holds up Christ's sovereignty over our lives by noting that he's a prisoner not of Caesar, right? He's not a prisoner of Caesar, he says, but a prisoner of Christ. He is a bondservant of the Lord, and thus if he is in jail, Paul ultimately wants Philemon and us to see he's ultimately there not because of Caesar, but because of Christ. Paul has a Christ-centered view, you see, of everything that happens, why it happens, and what should then happen. Notice, too, in this greeting that Paul not only addresses Philemon, but he also addresses Ophia, who is believed by many to be Philemon's wife. And he addresses Archippus and the whole church meeting in Philemon's house. Isn't that interesting? In doing this, Philemon's life is set in the context of Christian community. This isn't a private ordeal for the Apostle Paul. Paul had no qualms about writing this letter to the entire church family. And in so doing, he is wanting the whole church to consider their identity in Christ and how best they can love and serve Philemon and welcome back Onesimus in this situation. You see, Paul's not just concerned with Philemon. He's concerned with how the whole church is going to respond to this. How are all the saints going to deal with this new person back in their midst? Paul's concerned about that. He knows that all these kinds of things have implications for the entire body of Christ. Paul has the unity of the church in mind here. He wants the whole body of Christ to be on the same page about what does the gospel look like in this situation? How are we to respond to this? What are we supposed to do here? Paul wants them all on the same page. And it is a challenge to our society, which at times disproportionately values privacy and individualism more than the context of community. This is a challenging thing to observe about this letter here. For we do live our lives in community and in fellowship with one another, even though our society really wants to promote disproportionately privacy and individualism more than our lives in the context of community. And so we see that challenged here by Paul by addressing this letter to the whole church. This appeal is primarily for Philemon, but it's also for the whole body of Christ. And Paul then ends his greeting by stating that what follows can only be accomplished by the grace of God in the context of the grace of God. So again, he says, grace be with you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. And then right after this greeting, what is a typical move in Paul's letters, he moves to a section of thanksgiving and prayer. But what's also to note about these sections of Paul's letters is that they're never just there for formality's sake. They're always here for substantive reasons. Paul always has substantive things to say in these sections, even though they're normal sections of his letter. And so here there's some very rich things in Paul's thankful prayer. Paul recalls here first Philemon's love for the Lord and his faith. And he prays here that the sharing of his faith, which could also be translated as the fellowship of his faith, he prays that that may become effective for the full knowledge of every good thing that is in us for the sake of Christ. Notice that verse there. And some translations Make it sound as though Paul is commending Philemon to some kind of evangelism project when he asks him to share his faith. Or as the NIV puts it, become active in sharing your faith. And verse 6, you should know, it's the hardest verse to translate in the whole book. Very difficult syntax. But what I submit as being prayed for here is that Philemon's fellowship in the faith, the Greek word used there is koinonia, The word for fellowship. Philemon's fellowship in the faith that he has with the church. Paul is praying that that would increase the church's awareness of the possibilities of obedience to the gospel. As one commentator puts it, Paul is not speaking here of telling others about one's faith, but rather of being joined together by mutual participation in a greater reality, namely the reality of Christ, which is appropriated through faith. So Paul is praying for Philemon's faith with this church, and he's praying that that would produce and increase the church's awareness of what the gospel really looks like in this particular concrete situation. I like the way the NASB puts this verse. Paul prays that the fellowship of your faith may become effective, that could also be translated active, through the knowledge of every good thing which is in you for Christ's sake. So you see, friends, there's a call here for activated faith. There's a call for activated faith, which helps the believer discover every good thing, the text says, which is in us. Already there. In us for Christ's sake. So there's an idea here of increasing awareness of every good thing that is in us for Christ's sake. Paul knows, you see, that what he's asking Philemon to do is radical. But he is praying that Philemon would know and that this small house church would know that in Christ, under the Gospel, there are ever greater ways of pleasing the Lord. There are ever greater ways of pleasing the Lord. One author puts it this way, Paul is calling on Philemon to put his Christian experience and understanding into practice by now treating Onesimus as one who also shares in the reality of reconciliation. Philemon cannot deny to his slave what Christ has given to both. I like how that's said. Philemon cannot deny to his slave what Christ has given to both. And Christ, friends, the Spirit of God is transforming His people. That is promised to us many places in the Bible. And transforming means that there is a stretching. that God's people necessarily go through a stretching of our faith and of our comprehension of the gospel and its implications. And saints, I want you to understand this this morning. I believe God's Word wants us to understand this this morning. Let me illustrate it this way. Children out there, I want you to pay attention, children. I want you to pretend that you're playing a game. And I want you to pretend that you're playing a game that has levels of some kind. Maybe it's a video game or maybe it's a pretend game, but it has different levels that you have to beat and then you go to the next level or something like that. I want you to pretend that, you know, at some point you master the game and you beat the final level and there's really nothing else to do, is there? You complete the game when the last level has been won. Well, friends, in our obedience to the Lord, what I submit the Holy Spirit is teaching us here is that there are endless levels to obedience in the Lord. There's endless levels to obedience in the Lord. So children, I want you to think about that. Imagine a game where there's endless levels. Well, Paul is saying here that in our new identity in Christ, there are ever greater ways of serving the Lord, ever greater potentialities of how to faithfully glorify God in our lives. We can never out-obey Christ. We can never out-obey God. God is never in the heavens going, oh, stop. Just stop that obedience. That's too much. No, He's not doing that. can never out obey him. No, the Holy Spirit is inside of us, making more, making us more and more aware. Notice the text says of every good thing that is in us so that we might comprehend new obedience, new levels, new vistas of obedience, as it were. The Bible says do not grow weary of well doing. And while Part of that verse definitely is a call to faithfulness and well-doing, to continue well-doing. I also think that that verse helps us to realize we're not to grow weary of seeing how well-doing looks like in Christ. We're not to grow weary of thinking about ever greater ways of well-doing in Christ. Again, Paul is calling Philemon to something very radical here, yet it's something that is in keeping with the gospel. It is a measure of obedience that Paul is calling Philemon to here that perhaps this small church had never conceived of yet. And Paul knows that. Paul's very gentle, as we'll see next week. You know, he prefers to appeal to them. He knows this might be really hard for them to grasp. But Paul is saying this is a this is a new vista of obedience that you can please your Lord by. And Paul passionately wants them to see that. And come to understand it, Paul is praying that the Holy Spirit would open their eyes through the fellowship they have noticed through the fellowship that they have. to see how receiving back this runaway slave as a brother in the Lord is what is fitting to do because of the gospel. Paul just passionately wants them to know that. This is the right thing to do. Not only is Philemon going to be blessed, he wants the whole church to be blessed. Everybody in the church is going to be edified by this is the thrust of what Paul is getting at. Brothers and sisters, God's Word says in Hebrews 12, consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or faint-hearted. In your struggle against sin, you have not resisted to the point of shedding your blood." That's Hebrews 12, verses 3 and 4. Saints, every day we live in Christ. There are ever greater ways of serving and obeying Him that we can prayerfully consider. Oftentimes, when we are confronted with a potential implication of our lives as Christians, especially when it's something that we're naturally uncomfortable with, we tend to try to find exceptions and exemptions first and foremost. When you're really convicted about something, or you really might be seeing something that you haven't seen before in your life as a Christian, what do you go to first? If we're honest, I know this is my tendency, we want to go to exceptions and exemptions first. We shrink at some of the possibilities that life in Christ presents to us. Along these lines, I remember when I first started sensing a call to pastoral ministry, I simply laughed at God. I laughed at the idea Thought it was impossible, ridiculous, absurd. Not me. It wasn't consistent with who I was. It wasn't consistent with my dreams and what I had in mind for life. And here the Lord has placed me. An unfathomable vista, an unfathomable thing to me years ago in my past. You know, in the same way, I think what's going on here in the community of Philemon in the church is Paul knows that, boy, what he's calling them to do and what he's seeing the gospel do in the church, this is going to be very difficult for them to to see. But he wants them to see it desperately because he knows this is the right thing. And this is true for your life as a Christian, and this is true for our churches, that everything we do as Christians and as churches has a Godward disposition. To quote John Piper, that is, everything we do is spiritual. Everything we do is spiritual. from thinking about budgets, to thinking about building repairs, from thinking about sound systems, thinking about supporting missionaries, all is now subject to the grace of the gospel. And so it can all be considered spiritually. And all the seemingly mundane things in our lives can be reconsidered in the light of Jesus Christ and Him crucified. And that's what Paul wants this church to see. That's what he wants Philemon to see. That's what he wants us to see. because it's Jesus Christ in him crucified, which has purchased us out of our sin and out of our darkness and into the light where we can actually see new ways of what it looks like to please the Lord in our lives. You see, it is at the cross where we see the ultimate level of obedience, as it were, the righteous Jesus Christ laying down his life for his enemies. And in doing this, in Jesus being faithful even unto death, the great fruit of making disciples of the nations is being borne all around the world and in our very lives by Jesus' act of obedience. The only way that we can continue to discover every good thing in us is to know that every good thing is first and foremost in Christ. It was and is in Christ. He gave Himself at the cross and the Holy Spirit unites us to Him. Indeed, we are saved by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone. And then we're called by the Spirit to walk out our faith, and to consider our ways, and to how it is we can better please the Lord. That's the marvelous freedom that we have in Christ. Because all of our sins are taken care of. Jesus has liberated us. He's freed us to walk in obedience. We no longer have to walk in shame or in guilt. Indeed, we'll struggle with those things, but we have to know that they've been taken care of, ultimately, in God's eyes, and that He's sanctifying us through those things. And here, as Paul sets the stage for this letter, I think the powerful thing we see in his prayer is that he is saying that there are possibilities for obedience in Philemon's life and in the church's life that they may have never considered, that he wants them to see now. And so then Paul moves forward with his appeal. And I hope that this is a blessing to you this morning as you consider your ways in Christ. Something may come across your mind. You might be encouraged by a brother or sister in the Lord, and you might think that what they're saying is crazy. But as years go by, you might not have that same opinion. You might see it as a word of wisdom in time and a word of blessing in time. Indeed, Paul knows that that might be the case here. This might not be received. But Paul is saying this is what the best kind of obedience looks like here in this situation. There's a lot of ways that this could have been dealt with. But Paul says, receiving Him as a brother, receiving Him as one of your own, is the best way, and Paul wants them to see that in the light of Christ. And brothers and sisters, we will continue to consider this wonderful letter and consider the ways we can better please the Lord as we progress, Lord willing, in this letter next week. Amen. Let us go to God in prayer. Dear Lord, how we thank You for the cross. How we thank You that Jesus showed His ultimate obedience to You by laying down His life for enemies so that they could become sons and daughters and co-heirs with Him. And Lord, we pray that by Your Spirit we would consider our ways, that we would, by the fellowship of our faith, Grow in our understanding of every good thing that is in us May we have increased awareness this week of how our lives are lived before you and all that that entails We pray and ask these things in Jesus name. Amen