If you want to turn your Bibles to the book of Philemon, however you like to pronounce it is fine. I don't pronounce it as it should be. It's right before the book of Hebrews in the New Testament. Philemon, right after Titus, right before Hebrews. I so much appreciated what your pastor had to say earlier from John chapter 1. That is such a blessing. I like the part especially about Rolf Barnard. I had never met Rolf. I have heard him preach. The Book of Philemon. Now, let me give you just an overview before we read together. And let me ask you a question to help prime. I think questions help us appreciate the answer once it's given. In the book of Philemon, the apostle Paul is in prison. And he's in prison for preaching the gospel, for serving Christ. He wasn't there for any crime except the crime of being a servant of Christ. And while he was there, by God's providence, a slave came into his company. Paul preached to him the gospel he believed and they grew very close in their relationship. Because he was there in prison and knew this slave whose name is Onesimus, he had such an affection for Onesimus, and he also had an affection for Onesimus' master, whose name is Philemon. That's why the title here is the epistle of Paul to Philemon. Philemon was the slave owner, but he was also a brother in Christ. And so the question that I want to ask before we start reading is, what would you say to a brother who owned a slave and the slave was disobedient and had run away from him and stolen something from him? So he had wronged him and was indebted now to him, and he was his rightful property by the Roman law. What would you say to that brother, whose name is Philemon? How would you persuade your brother, if you were the apostle, how would you persuade him to free his slave and to treat him now as a brother in Christ? And that's what this book is about. I want to set it up for you with that question because this question is answered in the very emotional, I don't know how else to say it, the apostle here speaks to the heart of Philemon. And so we need to spend some time understanding the emotions and the affections behind the Apostle's relationship to both of these men, to Philemon and to Onesimus. And I want to help us understand also the condescension, the humility of the Apostle Paul in the way that he deals with this matter between these two men, because he loved them both. Such a humility on Paul's part. But I don't want to spend this time with you trying to understand the relationship between just these two men. Understand that the Apostle Paul was especially chosen by the Lord Jesus Christ, who is the King of heaven and earth. And so the Apostle Paul had authority given to him as an ambassador from Christ. But with that authority, He didn't use that authority to intimidate Philemon. And that's part of the humility here. But because he was an apostle of Christ and sent by Christ, he had a message to preach to a people that Christ sent him to preach to. And so, This is a private message that Paul wrote to Philemon. We've intercepted the letter here. Because the events, the circumstances of this entire history was arranged in order to teach us, the letter itself was written by the Apostle under the inspiration of the Spirit of the Lord Jesus Christ. So that the message here is the same message that the Apostle was given by Christ to preach. And the circumstances, like in the Old Testament, prophets were given a message and their very lives exhibited that message. And so this has an exceedingly great weight because it's written of circumstances with a message in word and in providence in order to teach that message. In the Bible, God gives us clear statements of truth. Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures. And we say that so often that sometimes the words, we've desensitized ourselves to the truth of it because we say it so much. It's not wrong that we say it. The problem is that we are just prone to be desensitized to things. But as the apostle said in Romans chapter six, he says, I'm going to talk to you now because of the infirmity of your flesh in a way that allows you to absorb, really, absorb what I'm going to say. And so that's the way this book is written in Philemon, this letter. It's written in a way to convey the gospel so that it penetrates into our emotions and sets us up for the eternal truth behind what's written here. And so that's why it's essential that we understand not only the circumstances here, the historical circumstances, but the relations between these people. Paul, as I say, was sent by Christ, and the Lord Jesus Christ told his disciples, it's enough for a disciple to be as his Lord. In other words, Paul was, in doing the things he did and saying these things, he was exhibiting Christ's own heart in the matter. The way that he would have handled it, when his disciples were with him so many times, the Lord Jesus, did these things. He would ask them questions and answer, and it was phenomenal how he convinced them through this stoop of humility. And here the apostle is going to do that here. Now, let me give you the overview, first of all, of the message. There's a threefold message here, as I see it. A threefold message. The first one is Paul is pleading with Philemon for Onesimus. That's the first level. And it's a passionate plea. The second level here is that the entire matter between Paul and Philemon on behalf of Onesimus is meant to teach us of the pleadings of our master, the Lord Jesus Christ, as our surety on behalf of his people, to his father. And then the second lesson here is also very important. The Lord Jesus Christ again pleading to us, his church, on behalf of his elect. So let's look at these things and these three areas here. First of all, let's look at Paul's pleadings, his advocacy for Onesimus to Philemon. In verse one, it says, Paul, a prisoner of Jesus Christ, a prisoner. He wasn't there by his will. He was there because he was serving Christ. It was by Christ's appointment that he was there. And Timothy, our brother, unto Philemon, our dearly beloved and fellow laborer. Right away, Paul disarms Philemon, doesn't he? He opens the letter, he's talking about The Lord Jesus Christ, the King of Glory, not Caesar, who put me here in prison, Christ put me here. There was a reason for him to be there, a very effective reason. If Paul was not put there in that prison, we would not have this letter. If Paul wasn't in that prison, we wouldn't have most of the New Testament. What a blessing of God, the Lord Jesus Christ and His wisdom and grace to us. put Paul in prison. And that's at a human level. We understand that. How much more God the Father put his son into prison that we might be saved. Now, he goes on in verse one, unto Philemon, our dearly beloved and fellow laborer. Paul identifies Philemon as his peer in the gospel, a fellow laborer. In those days, labor was not admired. It was looked down on by the normal people. Labor was something that the underlings did. And so Paul here in two ways lowers himself because he's pleading for Onesimus, who is a slave. I'm a prisoner. I'm a laborer, just like this man. Philemon knew something about that. He was a laborer in the gospel. And he writes, to our beloved Apphia and Archippus, our fellow soldier, Apphia apparently was the wife of Philemon, beloved to Paul. 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. We should spend a long time there, but we are not going to take time. But note this, he tells Philemon, as you are a recipient, an object of the grace of Almighty God our Father and His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. So am I, so are you. And grace permeates the entire letter. At the very end, look at verse 25. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit. From first to last, all of grace. That's what this is saying. He goes on in verse 4, he says to Philemon, 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. So what he's saying here is that unless God had grace on you, Unless God was to give the credit for this, unless God gives this to you, you would have no faith. You would have no love. Your faith, your love toward the Lord Jesus Christ and toward His people, that's by God's grace. That's why I'm praying for it. That's why I'm thanking Him for it. Verse 5, he says, that the communication of thy faith may become effectual by the acknowledging of every good thing which is in you in Christ Jesus. Communication is another way of saying, you're going to share, you're going to have fellowship in this faith. Obviously Philemon by saying this was a teacher. He had said in verse two that he was writing not only to Philemon and his wife, Apphia, Archippus, but also to the church that was in his house, the assembly of Christ's people meeting together. Philemon was obviously a man of means, had a place big enough for the church to meet, and he could support Paul on his journey, because at the end he asks him to prepare a room for him. And he must have had at least one servant, probably more than one, And so he's saying here to Philemon as a teacher of the gospel, as a preacher of the gospel, thy faith, meaning what we believe. We do believe, but he can't share his personal belief. He shares what he believes, the one he believes, the one who we hold dear. If we take a loaf of bread and you tear off a piece and I tear off a piece, that's fellowship in that loaf. But in the gospel, Each one of us take the whole loaf, right? We don't just take a piece of it. Christ died for our sins according to the scripture. I don't just take the part about Christ or my sins. I take the whole thing. I need it all. And because we have that common object of God-given faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, we have fellowship at such a deep level, an intimacy. that goes beyond biological relationships, doesn't it? They say blood is thicker than water. The gospel is thicker than that. It's way thick. So he's asking here, he says, that this is part of his prayer, that the communication of thy faith, the teaching of the gospel, might be effectual. It might accomplish God's will. by the acknowledging of every good thing which is in you by Christ Jesus. Everything that Philemon was in any prophet to God was obviously by God's grace or the purpose. And he wants that God-given grace to Philemon to become effectual. And this is why he's writing to him that that might become effectual. Because in the way that he deals He's writing to the church here. And the way that Philemon deals with his slave, Onesimus, in this matter of his departure and his unlawful use of his goods by stealing or whatever he did there. How Philemon deals with that is going to give him a platform, a ground on which he can actually effectively preach the gospel. You see, that's what he's praying for. Paul has, in everything he says here, by the wisdom of Christ, he has this pleading motive in mind to woo, not to command, but to woo Philemon towards his servant, Onesimus, in order to get them reconciled. Paul is acting as a mediator of reconciliation between Philemon and Onesimus, isn't he? And so he goes on. Verse 7, for we have great joy and consolation in thy love, because the bowels of the saints are refreshed by thee, brother, the hearts, the inmost heart. And haven't you noticed that? That when the gospel is preached, it is so blessed that there's nothing that surpasses it. There's nothing. And so you want that? You want that effectiveness of the gospel to be given. And notice how Paul, he's not there. But he wants this for them. How many times have I prayed for myself and I forget to pray for Brother Gabe or whoever else because I am so self-centered. But Paul, he's praying for these people and not in general. Lord, help all the churches. He prays for them by individual names, doesn't he? Very personal, very personal. So he says in verse 8, Wherefore, though I might be much bold in Christ to enjoin thee, to command you, to put a demand on you, that which is convenient, it means proper, what's fit, what's right in the eyes of the Lord, yet for love's sake, I rather beseech thee, being such in one as Paul, the aged, and now also a prisoner of the Lord Jesus Christ." Now, notice here, Paul is pleading to Philemon for Onesimus. He identifies his connection with Philemon, dearly beloved. They were both partakers of the same grace from God the Father. They were both teachers in the gospel, the preacher's fellow laborers. They were peers. But now he's talking about Onesimus. And I want you to notice how he's taken this much time to build up to this point. Because this is such a skill exhibited by the Spirit of God in order to effect reconciliation between these two and the man who loved them both, that he actually takes His methodology for pleading with Philemon is he pleads his identity with Onesimus, the slave. He pleads the intimacy of his identity with Onesimus to Philemon. And it is an intimate identity that is much deeper than his relationship to Philemon. And so he goes on. He says in verse 10, now notice, in our translation, it puts the word, the name Onesimus here in the middle of the sentence, but in the original, Onesimus is at the end of the sentence, and there's a reason for that. He says, I beseech thee for my son, and I'm gonna skip the name, whom I have begotten in my bonds, Onesimus. You see how he piles it up here? My child, when I was in chains, he was born. He was born. And through the preaching of the gospel that Christ gave to me, God gave him the spirit of God, and he became a child born of God. Through the word, he says, of his own will, James 1, 17 and 18, of his own will, begat he us by the word of truth. And this is what Pastor Darwin was talking about. God sent a man to Onesimus. And through Paul, he heard the word of life. And with that word, the Lord Jesus Christ, with his spirit, brought life from the dead and birthed him and created him. And he became a new creation, a new creature. And of course, with relationship to Christ, that was because of Christ's blood. He didn't just become a new creature by, let's make him a new creature. There was something that had to be laid down first, a foundation for this sonship, and it was the redeeming blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. God the Father had to choose him. He had to put him among his children. He had to give him to Christ and had to give him to Christ in order to redeem him from his sins and justify him in his righteousness. Now he's fit. Send the Spirit of God to him and birth him. And so this is Onesimus now. And with respect to Paul, Onesimus is his son in this in this work of God, a spiritual relationship that goes so deep. You know the relationship between a father and a son is deep, isn't it? Jacob had a son named Benjamin, the youngest son of his most loved wife, who died in childbirth. And he said, that's the son of my right hand. Benjamin, my son, and he would not let Benjamin go. When Joseph in Egypt required Benjamin in order to give them bread, he said, no, I'm not going to send him. You bereaved me, Joseph, I'm bereaved of. And now if you take my youngest son, Benjamin, no, you can't take him. His love for Benjamin was so deep that when Judah was speaking to Joseph about him, he says, If he goes down to see Joseph and not come, my father will die. Benjamin and his father Jacob were tied together in the bundle of life. There was no separation there. That was deep. And this is a spiritual relationship. Onesimus and Paul believed the same Christ, the same Savior. They were each one as equally attached to him And yet Onesimus heard that gospel through Paul, and to Paul he was his own son in the faith. So he says to Philemon, now listen to me. This is in verse 10. I beseech thee, and I don't command you, but I beseech you with entreaty for my son. And I have begotten him in my bonds. in my suffering. I'm being held here. I'm not free. I am a free man, but I'm not free as a slave here in prison for the gospel. I've given birth, spiritual birth to this man, Onesimus, who's your slave, who was held against his will. You can see how it's building up, can't you? And now look at verse 12. This intimate identity, this relationship between Paul and Onesimus is intensified to a maximum point here. He says in verse 12, whom I have sent again. Now, he's going to send him with this letter. Onesimus is going to take this letter to his slave owner, Philemon. And Paul says, whom I have sent again. You can see Paul opening the letter and reading this. Whom I've sent. Here he is standing before Philemon. This is the one. Thou therefore, notice what Paul says, receive him that is mine own balance, my own heart, my son. I'm begotten out of my bonds and my prisonment, you see? This is an intimate identity with Onesimus. It exceeds his relationship in his love for Onesimus, if it could be said that way. And then he says in verse 13, whom I would have retained with me, that is, in thy stead, that he might have ministered unto me in the bonds of the gospel, because he was Philemon's property. The apostle Paul certainly had authority to require Philemon to serve him with his goods, which was Onesimus, but he didn't require him without getting his consent. He goes on. but that without thy mind would I do nothing, that thy benefit should not be as it were of necessity, but willingly." That is humility, isn't it? The Apostle Paul will not have anything that is a pretended obedience that comes out of constraint. There is no such thing as obedience in this case that is not obedience in love. And so he's not looking for a superficial reconciliation. He's looking for Philemon to be so reconciled to Onesimus that he does it freely. And in fact, later on, he says in verse 21, having confidence in thy obedience, I wrote unto thee, knowing thou wilt do also more than I say. When I used to work, they said, you can either meet the expectations or you can exceed them. Philemon, the apostle, knows he's going to exceed them. Because that's what love does. The law requires, do these things. And it even says, love your neighbor as yourself. How in the world can you love someone? By command. It doesn't happen, does it? You love him. You tell that to your children. Now you love your brother. If you don't, That doesn't work, does it? It wouldn't have worked here. Notice how skillfully the apostle is taking the gospel that was applied to him by the Spirit of God, and he's using that same gospel in his relationship and in his communications between these two men. It's a wonderful thing. And so he says, without your mind, I wouldn't do anything. It won't be a constraint. I'm going to get your full buy-in. He's not going to treat Philemon as a slave. That's what he's saying here. I'm not going to treat you as a slave. That's what slaves do. Get over there and do the dishes. No. He only wants Philemon to do this out of love. That's what he said back in verse 9. For love's sake. For love's sake. That's the title of this message. For love's sake. And so he writes on. For perhaps, verse 15, he therefore departed for a season that thou shouldst receive him forever. What is he saying here? God arranged for this. God arranged to save Onesimus. He ran away from you, that was wrong. Whatever he took, that was wrong. He defrauded you, embezzled, maybe stole. He was a thief and he wasn't a faithful servant. He goes, for perhaps therefore, in other words, this is the reason behind it, he departed for a season that thou shouldst receive him forever. Joseph said that to his brothers, didn't he? You meant it for evil, but God meant it for good. You, Peter preached in Acts 2.23, you took him and by wicked hands have crucified and slain him. but it was the predetermined counsel and foreknowledge of God to save many, you see. And so he writes this way because in God's providence, this is the way God works in our lives, doesn't he? We meant it for evil. We have no regard. We wanted the honor that belongs to Christ. We preferred our own works to his righteousness. And we lusted after the pride that was in our own souls in order to have some honor for men. And so we went about trying to produce our own righteousness. We were thieves and we were idolaters. And we thought we were doing the right thing, but we were rebellious. And the Lord said, sin will have its control over you. In fact, By the law, it will actually grow in its intensity and its grip and its tyranny, and it will bring you to death until grace comes. And when God, at the appointed time, makes known to you the righteousness of Christ and Him as your Savior, you know what you'll say? You'll say what Paul said here. Perhaps, therefore, by the gracious will of God, He brought you to himself through the fall of Adam, through your own sin, in order that you might know Christ as your Redeemer. You see. And he's telling this to Philemon, because that's the way Philemon had to be saved. And he goes on in verse 16, not now as a servant, but above a servant, a brother beloved specially to me, and how much more to thee both in the flesh and in the Lord. Now, verse 17, notice. If thou count me therefore a partner, receive him, listen to these words, as myself. Verse 18, if he has wronged you or owes you anything, put that on my account. I, Paul, have written it with my own hand. I will repay it, albeit I do not say unto thee that thou ow'st me, even thine own self besides. Hey 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. You can see it here. Paul builds up. First he says, he's my son in my bonds, and he exhorts him by this intimate identity he makes with Onesimus. And then he says, now, let me tell you how close that relationship is. Receive him, my own heart. Receive him as me. Receive him as me." Now that was huge for a man to say. He says, he is me. When you look at him, see me. You see? Now this is the Lord Jesus Christ. And this is the second way that we understand the gospel. And when I was thinking about what to preach, I couldn't help but think, I want to preach the part of the gospel that is so essential that is the dearest part to a sinner like me. But I want to say it in such a way that we answer this question. Is it really true? Is it really true that God would look upon me and look upon Christ as one and receive me for Christ's sake? Is it really true? Is it really true? And you see, this is why the gospel is given. To not only give it to us in a statement of fact. We were buried with him. We died with him. We rose with him. We were seated with him. Those things bring it to us in fact. But here, with the intimacy of this relationship now, we not only enter into it in fact, but we enter into it with tears, don't we? How can you read the account between Jacob and Judah and Benjamin and Joseph and not fall in tears, weeping at your feet? Lord, how could you love me so? And here he says that. And so the Lord Jesus Christ now, as our mediator, as our surety, pleads with God for his people. He is a partner, isn't he? Paul called Philemon a partner. The Lord Jesus Christ, as the meat-eater, when he goes to God, he brings to him everything that God requires of us. So that when God receives from Christ all the love and the blood and the obedience and the humility and the faithfulness and the faith everything. God receives it from him and he sees us bringing it in the mediator because nothing is lacking because the mediator is bringing it. And when the mediator comes to us he brings all that God is to us in himself. And in him we are complete. There is nothing lacking. And so He says, Father, now you consider your love, your eternal predestinating choice of these who were unprofitable in themselves, you put among your children, by sovereign acts of your own will, in love to them. Now you consider that love. And you consider how you put me as a surety when you engage my heart and I approach to you and I agree to become a surety for them and to fulfill all the obligations for them, to you, as them, only me. And he comes to his father and he has to deal with this matter of wrongdoing and a debt. And he says, if he has wronged you or owed you anything, Put that on my account. And so Judah did that to Joseph regarding Benjamin. He says, I became surety for him long before I appeared here before you in this judgment, long before I became a surety. And now I stand before you having made that commitment, that pledge of myself for him in love. And Joseph is looking at his brother, having not revealed himself to them yet. And he loves Benjamin, and his bowels are yearning upon Benjamin. And he sees Judah now pleading for Benjamin, who before had cast him into the pit. And he recalls his father's love for himself and for Benjamin and Judah. And yet, Joseph is standing as the governor, representing the justice of God, and he says, Far be it from me to let him go free." And Judah says, take me instead of the lad and let the lad go up to his father again with his brethren. You see, this is what Paul is saying here. The Lord Jesus Christ pleads his father's love. He pleads his own surety engagements and then he pleads himself and he says, now, justice has to be satisfied. Put the balances out. On this side, put the whole proposal of eternal glory given to your people as your children, the heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ. And on the other side, put my blood in eternal love shed for them. And justice looks. And justice looks at the inordinate amount of blessing proposed by eternal love and looks at all that that love has provided and says at that blood, it's appropriate, it's right, it's good. Give it to him. And Joseph says, this is me. This is Joseph, your brother. He wanted the same thing as his father. And Judah, he wanted the same thing. This is God in His holiness and all of His perfections. It's one God. And so the Father receives us, His own bowels, the bowels, the heart of Christ as Christ. This is our salvation, isn't it? I wish I had more time. I'd give you the other point, but I don't want to take up too much time. Thank the Lord. Isn't it good? What a blessing. Amen.