Well, before we come to consider God's Word, let us seek his face again in prayer. Let us pray. Our Father who art in heaven, be it cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. And that's what we have come here now to do, to hear thy voice. And may it be unto us a voice of majesty, a voice of glory, a voice that will revive thy people, a voice that will convert the soul. O our God, we look to thee and ask that thou would grant to each one of us now light, that the entrance of thy word would give us light, that it would give us understanding, that it would be accompanied by the Holy Spirit. Let us not go forth at this time without thee, O God. We need thee, and we pray then that thy Spirit would be our helper, that eternal divine teacher. May it be ours this evening. O blessed Holy Spirit, come, we pray. Show us the ways of God, that way of the heart and of the mind. that we may grow in grace and in the knowledge of Jesus Christ. Forgive us our sins, we pray, in Jesus' name. Amen. Well, let us return to that portion of scripture that we read together in the book of Philemon. And we find our text in verse 10. In the first part of the verse, I beseech thee for my son Onesimus. I beseech thee for my son Onesimus. Now this book here of Philemon, It is a personal letter that is written by the Apostle Paul. It is a prison letter, and it is the letter that accompanies that epistle to the Colossians. So when we want to understand somewhat of the book of Philemon and the context, we should consider it in the light of that epistle to that church that was found in the house of Philemon. And although it be a personal letter, it is a letter that is full of theological and gospel truth. And yet it is written in the Christian spirit of brotherhood. It is written in a spirit that is largely absent from the church of Christ today. Yes, we love our theology and we love our gospel truth. Well, here we have from the Apostle Paul, theology, gospel truth, and the spirit of brotherhood. All in this personal letter displays and exhorts to Christian love. He really does take lead from his master, the Lord Jesus Christ. Remember John chapter 13 and verse 34 and 35, Christ there plainly speaks to his disciples that they are to love one another as Christ has loved them. And that by loving one another, the world knows what? The world knows that they are the disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ. And this badge of discipleship is clearly displayed here by the Apostle Paul. He exhorts Philemon to Christian love. A vital and practical doctrine that we have in this little personal letter is that of reconciliation, a reconciling of two parties. And that reconciling flows from and is based on what we would call cosmic reconciliation. And that's our theme for our time remaining, God willing, cosmic reconciliation. You see, cosmic reconciliation affects all of our living with one another. What is that cosmic reconciliation, children? It's the reconciliation that sinners experience with God through Jesus Christ. That is the basis for all of our reconciliation within the brotherhood. Christ has reconciled us onto God. Therefore, we are to be reconciled one to another. And we have this man Philemon, who Paul here writes to. And he writes to him on behalf of another called Onesimus. And Onesimus was the servant of Philemon. And Onesimus, we could say, did a runner. He ran away from his master. He ran away from Philemon. And here Paul sends Onesimus back to Philemon with this letter in his hand, as we will see, in order for reconciliation. One writer remarked, yet this reconciliation between a master and his slave flows not purely from a practical consideration, but from a redemptive historical one. What is that redemptive historical consideration? It is our reconciliation as sinners to a holy God. That is the grounds of all our reconciliation. Now, we have, of course, the book of Colossians that goes with this book of Philemon. You see, in chapter four of Colossians, we're told that Tychicus He carried back, as it were, this epistle to the Colossian church in verse 7. Verse 8, Whom I have sent unto you for the same purpose, that he might know your estate and comfort your hearts. Verse 9, Who was with him? with Onesimus, a faithful and beloved brother who is one of you. So Onesimus went back with Tychicus, with this epistle to the Colossian church, and with this letter to his old master by Limon. But in the book of Colossians, we have this cosmic reconciliation. chapter one and verse 19 of Colossians. For it pleased the Father that in him should all fullness dwell. And having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself, by him I say, whether they be things on earth or things in heaven. Now picture this in your mind. We here are the congregation at Colossae. And we are hearing these words read out to us from the Apostle Paul, that by him all things have been reconciled unto himself. Now put yourself in the shoes of Philemon as you sit amongst the congregation at Colossae. He hears that Christ has reconciled all things to himself, and there he sits with his personal letter maybe in his back pocket. that's calling on him to be reconciled to Onesimus. You see, we, the people of God, are the household of God. And the code of living in the household of God, dear friends, is one of unity. and it's one of unity in the head of the household, Jesus Christ. Think of his high priestly prayer in John 17. What does he pray? That my people shall be one, a unified people. Unified in Christ is our end time reality. Well, then let us consider this book of Philemon. And we shall use these three major characters in this letter. From our text in verse 10, I beseech the apostle Paul, the aged man who's been reconciled to God, beseeches Philemon, the younger man, who is a vibrant man, who does good works. And he beseeches him on behalf of who? My son Onesimus, there we have the babe in Christ, the one who has been newly reconciled to God. Well, let us consider then firstly Paul. Paul, a prisoner of Jesus Christ from verse one to three. Paul was a prisoner in or at Rome. And the concern of the apostle at this time is the reconciling of brethren in unity in the brotherhood. Now, think of this. Here is the apostle, aged. He's in prison. He's constantly, as it were, connected to a soldier, chained to a soldier. imprisoned for the gospel. And what's his priority? His priority is the church of Jesus Christ. His priority is unity in the brotherhood, a reconciliation between two brethren in Christ. What a priority. Would that be our priority if we were in prison? I wonder if our priority would be unity amongst the brethren. Or would it be to get out of prison? Well, here we have the apostle Paul being an example for us. He's a prisoner of Jesus Christ. You see, it doesn't say a prisoner for Jesus Christ, but of Jesus Christ. And this causes us to think of two things. And it's remarkable to think in this in two ways. Firstly, he's a prisoner for the gospel, for the preaching of the gospel. He was uncompromising in his message that Jesus Christ was the Messiah. That's what we're told that he preached. He preached that Jesus was the Christ, the Messiah, the promised Savior. And because he would not change his message, because he would not stop preaching his message, he found himself in prison. But also, he's a prisoner of Jesus Christ in a sense that that is under Christ's sovereignty. He's a prisoner of Jesus Christ because it is Christ's sovereign will that Paul be in prison at this time. And you may say, surely not. Surely it wasn't the will of Christ that Paul would be a prisoner. Well, just think of the book of Acts in chapter 16, when they decided or were determined to go to Bithynia. What do we read there? But the spirit suffered them not. It was the will of Christ that they went not to that place. Dear friends, Christ is sovereign over all. All power in heaven and earth's been given unto him. He governeth all things, even the most difficult providences of his people. What an encouragement that would have been to the apostle Paul in prison. A prisoner of Jesus Christ. And yet Paul, in this prison letter, in his Christian greetings, sets out the tone of the letter. He speaks of his loving friends in Christ. He writes unto Philemon, our dearly beloved, our fellow laborer, and to our beloved Aphia and Archippus, our fellow soldier, in thy house. His loving friends, it can be literally translated, his loving friends in Christ. And yet there is a singularity here to his letter. It is to Philemon. Philemon is to forgive Onesimus. And yet here we have a plurality of blessings being bestowed. Grace and peace to you all. That's what he's saying. Grace and peace to all of you. I write to Philemon, but my desire for you all is that you know continued grace and peace in Jesus Christ. Everyone who will read this epistle or everyone who will hear this epistle read. Dear congregation, we conclude that grace and peace are the sum of the gospel and the evangelical blessing that ought to be sought by us, not only for ourselves, but for each other. Peace, that's how we begin the Christian life. That is the blessing that we receive, peace with God. Peace, that is how we end the Christian life. in peace at death. And all of the blessings from our conversion to our stepping into eternity can all be summed up in this one word and blessing, peace. We have peace with God in Jesus Christ. Grace in Christ and peace with God, and yet the grace of God is the peace of Christ. So we see how these blessings are interwoven one with another. And they are immeasurable to us because they are of the bounty of Jesus Christ. And his bounty is great towards us, his people. And how do we know this? Well, here we have a prisoner who experienced grace and peace. So much so that he prayed that others who were not at that time in prison, but who were at liberty, that they too would know the grace and peace that he knew. And that's the wonderful life of the Christian. You know, we may not be found in a prison cell. but we may feel as if we are in prison at times when we are bedridden, or when we are faced with a great illness or disease, and yet we can have this in abundance, grace and peace. You've seen it yourselves. You've all known Christians who have run the race, who have finished a course, who have entered into their prize. And what have you saw on their countenance? Peace. They knew the grace of Christ at that hour. A prisoner experienced it. How much more then can we know it? Dear friends, we are all prisoners of some sort. You are either a prisoner of Jesus Christ, and praise God if you are, or you're a prisoner of sin. You're in bondage to sin. What a terrible bondage that is to be in. Because when you're a prisoner of Jesus Christ, you're a prisoner who is at liberty, a prisoner who lives, a prisoner who has grace and peace. And yet those who are prisoners of sin in this life, they think they're truly free. They think they're truly at liberty. That is a lie of Satan himself and a lie of a depraved heart. Prisoner of sin is one who is led onto death and the executioner. A prisoner of Christ is one who is led onto life. and that eternal forevermore. So we are all prisoners of some sort, dear friend. What sort are you? What sort are you? You're either one or the other. Paul, a prisoner of Jesus Christ, reconciled unto God. But secondly, we have Philemon. And Philemon is known for his faith toward Jesus Christ. Here is a vibrant Christian. Here is somebody who, as it were, is lively and is well, and he, as it were, has the church in his own house. Unto the church in thy house. Now, we should note here Paul's singular and intimate love in his prayers for Philemon. Verse four, I thank my God making mention of thee. Always in my prayer, he returns to the singular. After the plurality of blessing, he focuses again on Philemon to let Philemon know that he prayed often for him, thanking God for him. Now sometimes we scratch our heads. How often do we give thanks to God for other Christians? For our brother and for our sister, how often do we just thank God that there is grace present in their lives, that they know this reconciliation and peace with God? Does it even come into our minds at times? I preach to myself, dear friends, we're all guilty of this forgetfulness. We ought to have a prayerful love toward each other in Christ. And this is what this is. It's a prayerful love. We're told in Luke 18, men ought always to pray and to faint not. Well, let us always pray this prayerful love, one to another, or one for another, sorry. Let us feel not in this. It is evidence that we have been reconciled to God. and we pray for the reconciled in their field. As we note Paul's prayerful love, so we should also note Philemon's practical love. That's what he was known for, his practical love, verse five to seven. 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. They had great joy and consolation in his love. Why? Because he had a bowels of compassion and love for the saints of God. Philemon. Look, Philemon made no exceptions. Verse five, toward all the saints. His practical love was an inclusive love. He left no brother or sister out. He loved them all. and was noticed in his practical love. Make no mistake, the citizens of Colossae knew that Philemon was a follower of Jesus Christ. By this men shall know that ye are brethren, ye are my followers. And we see in verse seven, the apostle Paul refers to him. He says, because the bowels of thy saints are refreshed by thee. Then there's a pause. And he says, brother, brother, you see, remember the apostle Paul, and there's a road to Damascus. He was arrested by Christ and he was told to wait. And then, and Ananias was sent. And what did he say to Paul? He said, brother, Saul. It is a term of endearment, one that Paul received, and now he's, as it were, passing it on to Philemon. Calls him brother, and it's an important term, and I trust we all call each other brothers and sisters. Why should we do so? Why should we get into that practice? Well, because it is a term of endearment. We are to endear ourselves one to another. It is a term of identification. We are of the one family and household of God, and we identify ourselves with one another. But it is also a term of privilege, because when we pray one with another, what do we say? Our father. We do not say my father and your father. We say our father. a joint privilege as sons and daughters of God by the spirit of adoption and this reconciliation that we all have in Jesus Christ. Is this not what Christ envisaged in our witness of love to him? You know, our witness of love to him is seen in our love one for another. Faith toward Christ, is the cause of such love. That's why he loved the brethren, because it grew out of his faith for Jesus Christ. The Puritan John Trapp remarked, love is first mentioned as more noticed, and it is. It's more noticed outwardly by men. But faith, he goes on to say, is the mother grace. The womb wherein love and the rest of the heavenly offspring are conceived. So our faith is the womb, as it were. It is that place from which all the other graces come. And this faith has been given to us. It is a gift of God, lest any man should boast. And so our love one to another is an evidence of what? Our faith toward Jesus Christ and our being reconciled to God. You see, it is only in Christ Jesus than any good thing is in us. In verse six, he speaks of this. that the communication of thy faith may become effectual by the acknowledging of every good thing which is in you, in Christ Jesus." Dear friends, in and off of yourself, there is nothing good. In and off of myself, there is nothing good. We will not find anything good of ourselves. Any good that we have is that good which is in Christ Jesus. That's the only good that we do. We are saved by faith alone, but that faith is not alone. That faith, as our confession tells us, is accompanied with good works. And our good works is love for the brethren. It's seen practically in that which we do. So anything good in us is in Christ Jesus. And dear friends, if you are without Christ, do not think that you have anything good within you. From the sole of your foot to the top of your head, you're full of putrefying sores. No good in us but Christ alone. And we should also note the importance here of this word, communication, that the communication of thy faith may become effectual. Why? Because the world watches and sees. The citizens of Colossae watched, watched the church. And dear friends, sometimes we slide in to thinking that the world is not concerned with the church. Let us not be foolish. The world is always watching the church. The world always wants to point the finger at the church. Does the world know that we love one another? Does the world know that you have faith toward Christ and love toward the saints? By his practical Christian love, by Leman's faith toward Christ may truly be effectual to others. The badge of love that a Christian has, it is in itself a witness to the world that is a saving witness. And it is something that the church has lost today, this saving witness of the brotherhood, of love one toward another. Today, it's more like, see how they're Christians, they fight one with the other. But in the early church, they would say, look, they are Christians. Why? Because they love. It was a saving, efficacious witness of Jesus Christ to the world. Paul had a good witness to Philemon's faith toward Christ. How did Paul know of Philemon's faith toward Christ? Well, Philemon's minister told him, and his minister was Epaphras, who was in prison with Paul, as we read in the book of Colossians. And we read also in this personal letter, the apopharis, my fellow prisoner in Christ Jesus, your minister. So Philemon's minister was able to give a good account of Philemon's Christian life and character. And that should be the way. But how much more do we live our lives, Coram Deo? That means children before the presence of God. So do we have a good account before Christ, the head of the church? That's the main thing. Do we live as reconciled men and women, reconciled unto God? Well, thirdly and finally, let us consider Onesimus, this convert to Jesus Christ. this convert to Christ. Paul here makes an appeal for Onesimus, and he makes an appeal not upon his apostolic authority, which he could have well have done, as he says, wherefore though I might be much bold in Christ to enjoin thee, that is, command thee, which is convenient. So he could have exercised his apostolic authority and commanding Philemon to be reconciled to Onesimus, but he doesn't. He says, yet for love's sake, I rather beseech thee. Why? Because Philemon was known for his love for the saints. Therefore Paul beseeched him in love for Onesimus. Onesimus, whom he considered a son. Verse 10, I beseech thee for my son Onesimus, whom I have begotten in my bones. What does that mean? It means that he is the spiritual son of the apostle Paul. Timothy, remember, is called his son too. Onesimus, was converted under the preaching of the imprisoned Paul. While he was in his bonds, he boldly preached the gospel of Jesus Christ. And this man, Onesimus, was converted to Christ. That's what he means. He is a new babe in Christ. Onesimus, a true convert to Jesus Christ. as evidenced in a marked change, we have that in verse 11, which in time past was toward thee or to thee unprofitable, but now profitable to thee and to me. And what we have here is the genius of the apostle Paul, because in Paul's use of the common slave name, Onesimus, This name meant profitable, and there were many slaves that were called Onesimus, and it meant profitable. But see how Paul deals with this in verse 11, which in times past was to thee unprofitable, but now profitable to thee and to me. He's saying this man has been converted by the grace of Christ, and he is now living up to his name. Onesimus, he is profitable to me in the cause of the gospel, therefore he's gonna be profitable to you. He's living up to his name. And there's a point of application for us here, is there not? Do we live up to our name? By what name do we go? As reconciled believers today, we go by the name Christian. Do we live up to our name? Onesimus, without grace, did not live up to his. But with grace, with grace, he lived up to his name. And yet there are Onesimuses that do not live up to their name still. Maybe there's those who follow, as it were, afar off. They live not up to their name. And Onesimus will follow near and close by the Savior, living up to their name. And you see this Onesimus, he run off. And what he meant for ill, the Lord meant it for good. We read of that in verse 15. You see, God works all things for the good of the church. and for his glory. The Apostle Paul says, for perhaps, Philemon, he therefore departed for a season that thou shouldest receive him forever. What he meant for ill, God meant for good. What was that good? It was the good of his soul and his conversion to Jesus Christ. One writer remarked, God hath a hand in ordering our disorders. to his own glory and our good. That's a comforting truth. God has a hand in ordering our disorders. We are disorderly, but he has a hand to his own glory and our good. Dear saints, here we have an open example to us on how the plan of redemption outworked in the lives of God's people will know no hindrance. will know no hindrance. Onesimus' sin was not a hindrance to his coming to Christ. He wasn't first to be reconciled to his master, put his wrongs right, and then come to Christ. No. Now is the accepted time. Now is the day of salvation. It is only right with Christ and grace in the soul that things then will correct themselves in our lives. No hindrance to the work of grace in the heart. We, the most wicked of sinners, will be reconciled to God even in our wicked ways, just like Onesimus. God arrested him. What about the Apostle Paul? The Apostle Paul was arrested in his wickedness, apprehended on the road to Damascus. So was Onesimus. In God's mysterious providence, the evil act of Onesimus running away from his master he had no right to, was the means of coming under the ministry of Paul. And dear friends, you know, Onesimus ran, and he thought he was running away from every obligation. He thought he was a free man, children. until Christ arrested him, until Christ brought him under the conviction of sin. And he found himself under the preaching of the apostle Paul. Maybe he had heard about Paul in the house of Philemon because that was where the church met. And he knew of this apostle, and he needed this burden removed from him because God had put his hand heavy upon him. And where would he know this freedom of burden? He would only know it in Christ. Who preached Christ? The apostle Paul preached him. It is the reason for which he was in prison. So Onesimus went to Christ. He knew where to go. Dear friends, do you know where to go? You've come to the right place this evening, placing yourself under the preaching of the word of God. But may that word preached direct you to him who will set you free. The bottom line is this then in the book of Philemon. In the light of what Christ has done for us, Philemon was to receive Onesimus as a brother, not now as a servant, above a servant, a brother beloved, brother in the Lord. And the Apostle Paul says something in verse 18. Put it to mine account. If Onesimus owes you anything, don't look for it often. Don't squibble over it. put it to mine account, I will pay it. And again, Trap remarks, he says this with regards to this, put that on mine account. Listen to what he says. To the like effect speaks the Lord Christ on our behalf to his heavenly Father in his daily intercession. Dear friends, think of this. on our behalf daily in his intercession. He says, put it on mine account. And we sin every day in word, thought, and deed, but every day he is interceding for us. Put that on mine account. I have paid it. The debt is clear. What a wonderful truth for us all to grasp. Dear friend, does he say it for you? Put that on mine account. Dear saints, this redemptive historical lesson from this personal letter, remember it's a personal letter to Philemon, is that because Christ has reconciled us to God, and because we have our sins forgiven, Let us not hesitate to perform the same in the brotherhood we have in Christ. Let us be ready and willing to be reconciled one to another. And even if another brother is not willing to be reconciled unto you, let that not put you off course. Let you strive always to be reconciled, knowing that Christ in heaven for you daily says, put that on mine account. He has reconciled you unto God. Therefore, we will strive to be reconciled one to another. The apostle Paul, in speaking to the church in Ephesians 4, he writes, and be ye kind one to another. tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God, for Christ's sake, hath forgiven you. There is the ground of our forgiving of one another. For Christ's sake, God hath forgiven us. Therefore, for Christ's sake, let us forgive one another. Dear friends, let us hear as Onesimites. How did Onesimus hear the gospel? He heard it with faith, and he believed. So let us hear like Onesimites, and let us live like Philemonites. How did Philemon live? As those with faith toward Christ. and love for the saints. Well, may the grace of Christ grant to us the ability to live as such that are called Christian. Let us pray. Our Father who art in heaven, we thank thee for thy word, And we pray that as thy word has now been preached, that the voice of Christ would speak on, and the spirit of Christ would add the increase. Oh, our God, we pray, pour water upon this dry ground, and may much fruitfulness come from the preaching of thy word. We pray that thou would forgive us If we have heard thy word with indifference or with apathy, may each one of us here be enabled to say, it was with faith that I heard the word. Bless us, we ask, for the Redeemer's sake. Amen.