I encourage you to turn to Philemon, which is packaged between Titus and Hebrews. We'll read verses 10 through 14. 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 wish 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. Amen. Father, I thank you for this little tiny book and the message that it has for us. I pray that we would get it, appreciate it, grow through it, and pray that you would anoint my preaching as I bring your word to this your people. In Jesus' name, amen. Well, Philemon is a remarkable book on several levels. For example, it is a book that is an example of a perfectly constructed chiasm. John Paul Hyle has given a massive amount of detailed proofs of this. But I think just a tiny, simple little outline that I put into your program there should show sufficiently that there is parallelism. And knowing the structure hugely helps the interpretation. And believe me, there's a lot of controversy on this book. The controversies range from one extreme of people that I've got in my library who use this book to justify kidnapped and any other kind of chattel slavery, to the other extreme people I've got in my libraries who say, this is an example of radical abolitionism that completely overthrows the Old Testament law and provides a new ethic. And we're going to be seeing, if you understand the outline, the structure of this book, you'll see he actually is upholding the Old Testament law completely. And yet he shows how both the law and God's grace do inevitably lead people to liberty. So this book is about a slave being freed and what a good deed such emancipation was. But in addition to its remarkable structure, Philemon is also a remarkable example of very sensitive, carefully written communication. Paul is very gingerly tiptoeing through legal, relational, and financial issues as he seeks to intercede on behalf of Onesimus, who was a runaway slave. Now, if you know the laws of that time, you'll know that runaway slaves were not treated very well in the Roman Empire, nor were those who harbored such runaway slaves. And so Paul sends Tychicus to be an escort and a protection to Onesimus as he travels back to his former master to make things right. And though Philemon had the legal right to continue to own Onesimus, Paul very carefully asks him to free Onesimus, giving several reasons why he should appreciate the opportunity of doing so. So it's really a masterful example of very careful and sensitive communication. I think, actually, you could learn a lot from this if you're dealing with sensitive issues on how not to be a bull in a china shop. how to be very careful, be like Paul. It's also a remarkable testimony to God's grace in both master and slave, and how God's grace makes us all equals before his throne. Martin Luther once said that we're all Onesimuses. We've all been runaway slaves who need a kinsman redeemer to redeem us, and that would be Jesus Christ. So Onesimus is a wonderful example of you and me being freed by the gospel. Now, I did mention earlier that some have claimed that Paul was simply returning an SMS to his chattel slavery status, and they have used this book to justify the chattel slavery that was occurring in the antebellum south of America. After all, they say, Paul says right here, is returning a runaway slave to his master. Paul didn't free him, that's clear. He's still a slave, that's clear. Verse 12 says, I'm sending him back. Back to what? Sending him back to his master. And verse 15 says, that you might receive him forever. That's permanent slavery. So that's the claim. He's just returning him to a permanent status of slavery. But there are four factors that such writers miss. And even though I could really deal with each of these points as we go verse by verse, I think you need to understand it right up front, and then we'll go through the outline. The first factor that is ignored is that, of course, Paul did not free him. Paul didn't have the authority to free a slave. That's why he's sending him back. Instead, Paul is asking Philemon to free Onesimus. He is the only one who can legally do so. Now take a look at verse 16. Paul asks Philemon to treat Onesimus, quote, no longer as a slave. Unquote. Now, writers like Doug Wilson and others emphasize the next phrase and claim that Paul was simply telling Philemon that Onesimus should no longer be treated only as a slave, that he's now more than a slave. He's a Christian slave, and therefore he is a brother as well. But they insist he's still a slave who has repented of having run away, and now he's going to be a model to all slaves on how they need to submit to their masters forever. But you cannot insert the word only into the text that I just read. Paul is asking Philemon to treat Onesimus, quote, no longer as a slave. He wants the slave status ended. Second, and this is in opposition to the other extreme as well, both extremes miss this point. Paul was not in any way overturning the Old Testament law. Some assume that Anesimus was a typical kidnapped Roman slave, and therefore, even though the Old Testament completely outlawed kidnapping, that this book says, hey, you're not the one who kidnapped him, but if you're buying a kidnapped slave, you have the right to retain him. That is the claim. But as we go through the book, we're going to see that Paul upholds the Old Testament law. Both extremes miss this point. The law itself made several provisions for freeing slaves, and Paul brings up two biblically legal possibilities that were before him. He's upholding the Old Testament law. And by the way, the slave laws of the Old Testament were designed to irresistibly move slaves toward responsibility and toward freedom. And slaves who did not want liberty, they were shamed. That's what the piercing of the ear was for. It was a shame to not want that liberty. Now, God made a provision for that as well. But I've written a detailed blog on the Biblical Blueprints website that shows the restorative nature of the slave laws and all of the other penalties. They were nothing whatsoever like the racist laws of the antebellum South. So I think it's more accurate to say that they reflected indentured servitude to pay off a debt. And we'll see hints in the text that Philemon was not following Roman law at all. He was following biblical law. Third, Paul is acting as a kinsman redeemer in offering to pay whatever is left on the debt that Onesimus owes. This was one of the two biblically legal options that were before him. Now, of course, he was not a literal blood relative. But he was a brother in the Lord, and he meets the spirit of the biblical law. Verse 18 indicates that Onesimus may have stolen something from Philemon before leaving, though there's debate on that. I think legitimate debate. But it also indicates that in addition to that wrong, Onesimus still has a debt to pay off. Take a look at verse 17. says if he owes anything, put that on my account. Charge it to me. He's offering to pay for Onesimus' freedom. Then verse 19, I, Paul, am writing with my own hand. I will repay. So he is pledging to buy Onesimus' freedom if Philemon is reluctant to do so himself, to do it on his own. And Paul has Tychicus travel with this letter so that Onesimus won't have to face his master alone. So Paul addresses the legal possibility of redemption, but he's really hoping for a different conclusion. But either way, manumission, which just means total freeing of this slave, was Paul's intended purpose. I think that is really crystal clear. Fourth, there is plenty of evidence that Onesimus was not one of the millions of kidnapped slaves in the empire who amounted to chattel slavery. Instead, he was an indentured slave with a very specific debt that needed to be paid off. Why do I believe that? Two reasons. First of all, Paul would have been in direct disobedience to Deuteronomy 23, 15 if Onesimus had indeed been kidnapped and stolen as a slave. It says, you shall not give back to his master the slave who has escaped from his master to you. Just a flat-out command. It would have been a serious sin to return a slave to his master if that slave was the result of ungodly kidnapping, which is what most Roman slavery was about. Indeed, the death penalty was imposed upon anybody involved in kidnapping. There is no way that Paul would have agreed to a slave being maintained in permanent slavery if he had been kidnapped. A lot of commentaries claim that Paul did not free Onesimus because, as they say, there were 60 million slaves in the Roman Empire, and that would start a slave revolution, you know, a rebellion. You just can't risk that. I think that's nonsense. Paul would have done the right thing no matter what the risks might have been. Second, a godly man like Philemon would not have kept a kidnapped slave as his slave for the same reasons. He was a godly Christian who upheld God's law, and I think John makes that crystal clear. So it's almost certain that whatever kind of slavery Onesimus was in, it was a slavery that was authorized by the Old Testament. And if that is the case, then this book of Philemon cannot be used to justify the chattel slavery of the antebellum South in early America. In the Bible, here is the only things. You could sell yourself as a slave. You could become a slave to pay off something stolen. You could become a slave to pay for another crime. or become a slave because of inability to pay off a loan. That kind of indentured servitude was only for a short period of time. Third reason is that the text of Philemon itself seems to indicate that Onesimus was a biblical slave because of debt. Jordan Wilson says, it's important to note, first of all, that Paul reserves the right to hold Philemon accountable to, quote, what is required, unquote, by the law. And I'll just stop reading there for a bit. What he's referring to by that phrase, what is required, is in verse 8, which says this, Therefore, though I might be bold in Christ to command you what is fitting, or literally what is required, and that word anecho refers to ethics, what is required by the law, okay, that's what he's referring to. So Paul had repeatedly stated before that he never commanded anything, he could not back up with the Scriptures. That was his policy. What is required is not something new. It is what is required by biblical law. So back to Jordan Wilson again. It's important to note, first of all, that Paul reserves the right to hold Philemon accountable to what is required by the law should he not accept Philemon back no longer as a slave. The fact that ostensibly Philemon expects more payment of labor from Onesimus and feels cheated by his departure suggests this was a debt repayment situation. Little is known about the status of Onesimus' slavery, and we cannot assume that Philemon was holding him perpetually, treating him as cattle, or that Philemon had acquired him through any unlawful means. In fact, Given what we know about transcendent principles of biblical law regarding slavery combined with Paul's commendation of Philemon's record of faithfulness, it would make sense that Anesimus had been initially received as a slave rightfully. There are many such possibilities. It's quite possible that Onesimus had become destitute and sold himself into Philemon's care. Onesimus could have fallen into insurmountable debt and was working to pay it off. Possibly he was a criminal or a thief and was paying off restitution to Philemon. So we have a situation where Philemon really is within his biblical rights to keep Onesimus as a slave, and Paul recognized that fact. And if Paul has to, he will appeal to the law of the kinsman-redeemer and purchase Onesimus. But Paul wants Philemon to recognize that the Old Testament law was designed to be restorative, and much of what the law was designed to produce in a slave, God's grace and Paul's discipleship has already accomplished in this man. He was a transformed man. The law treated slaves as children in need of discipleship. Galatians 4.1 says that a true biblical slave is no different than an underage child. Definitely not chattel. He's an image bearer of God in need of discipleship. So when slaves were believers, they were released in the seventh year with enough money or livestock that they could start their own business. And during the six years of indentured servitude, the slave was trained, just like a child would be, and responsibility, discipline, future-orientedness, submission, industry, skills, all of the things that would enable that person to become a productive citizen. Even unbelievers, as Onesimus was, could become converted believers, and when they did, their clock of slavery would start ticking, and they would be released in the seventh year, even if the debt had not been paid off. And so both law and gospel were designed with a trajectory to prepare people for liberty. And in my sermon on 1 Timothy, I contrasted the beautiful biblical system with the modern slavery of the prison system and showed that the biblical system is infinitely better than the prison slave system. So Philemon really is a beautiful treatise that upholds the Old Testament law and yet shows how grace leads us to liberty. Okay, enough by way of introduction. Let's dive into the chiasm point by point and see where it leads. We'll look at the intro and conclusion first, the two A sections. Both sections give greetings. Both mention imprisonment. Both mention partnership. Both sections, Paul is being very discreet, even in this introduction. And by discreet, I mean even what he calls himself. In previous epistles, he had called himself an apostle. But because he's a friend of Philemon, he does not want to force this issue. He wants this to be a voluntary thing. He's not going to use his title of authority. In previous epistles, Paul had introduced himself as a slave of Christ, but because of the magnitude of the request he's going to make of this person who's going to be freeing a very costly slave, He does not want to, in any way, diminish or trivialize the significance of this act by calling himself a slave. So instead, Paul says, Paul, a prisoner of Christ Jesus and Timothy, our brother. He was a prisoner by serving Christ. What he's going to ask Philemon to do pales in significance to the sacrifices Paul has already modeled that he's been willing to do. Verse 1 continues his greetings to Philemon, our beloved friend and fellow laborer. to the beloved Athea, Archippus, our fellow soldier, and to the church in your house." Now, even though the singular you is used throughout, he's addressing Philemon, these phrases indicate Paul already knows by inspiration that his wife, Athea, and his son, Archippus, and the whole church, really, are going to benefit from this epistle. They're going to want to know what's going on, and I'm so glad he includes the church. He addressed it to the church as well. Aphia was the manager of the house as the wife, and no doubt she missed the labor that Onesimus had previously provided. And so Paul wants her to be a part of this family discussion. But ultimately, Paul's letter will deal with the head of the household. He's the one that will have to make the decision. Paul asks for God's grace and peace to rest upon Philemon in both the introduction and the conclusion, and both bring other friends of Philemon into this discussion, Timothy in the intro, and Epaphras, Mark, Aristarchus, Demas, and Luke in the conclusion. The point is, this is not a private matter. This is a legal transaction. There are going to be witnesses to this legal transaction that Paul is offering. These were all men who had sacrificed their wealth and their life to serve the Lord. Paphras was even a fellow prisoner as a result of his care for Paul, and you can see that in the second A section. So the intro and the conclusion, there are subtle appeals that pull at Philemon's heartstrings, make him desire to serve as selflessly the Lord as these other men have done, but it also reminds him that God's grace and peace can easily recompense him for anything that he will lose in this request. Now the B sections are thanksgiving for the ministry that Philemon has done in the past, that's the first B section, and thanksgiving and appreciation for his hospitality and his ministry in the future, that's the second B section. Each B section highlights that home's hospitality, refreshment, and generosity. And I think the point that Paul is making, he's not gonna be asking Philemon to do anything that he's not already shown an excitement of doing. He was an incredibly generous person. And because it's fairly self-explanatory, I'm just going to read through those. But as I read these, I hope it stirs you up to desire to open your homes in the same way that Philemon did. Beginning at verse 4, this is the first B section. 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 acknowledgement 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. Now, if you are sitting in prison, Would you be able to have a prayer life that was as filled as Paul's was with joy and faith and consolation and thanksgiving? I mean, to me, this shows how close Paul's walk was with the Lord. He did not allow his circumstances to get him down. But these verses also show Philemon that Paul never takes Philemon's generosity for granted. He appreciates his generosity. He counts on his generosity, but he does not take it for granted. The second B section begins at verse 20. Yes, brother, let me have joy from you in the Lord. Refresh my heart in the Lord. Having confidence in your obedience, I write to you knowing that you will do even more than I say, but meanwhile, also prepare a guest room for me, for I trust that through your prayers, I shall be granted to you. Now, what obedience is Paul referring to in verse 21? Well, I believe it's obedience to the Old Testament law. In 1 Corinthians 4, 6, Paul says that you may learn in us not to think beyond what is written. It is the scripture alone that can command obedience, and Paul is appealing to the well-known slave laws of the Old Testament. Let me read you Richard Mellick's comments. He says, He urged Philemon to refresh him in the Lord, and immediately Paul asks for Philemon's obedience. Though Paul issued no specific commands, Philemon's actions were a matter of obedience. This cannot be, therefore, obedience to the apostle. That neither fits a context where no commands are given, nor the phrase in the Lord. Paul meant that he would be refreshed as his children walked in accord with the will of God. As he saw Philemon respond to a difficult situation, acting in accordance with his Christian commitments under the leadership of the Lord and the Holy Spirit, Paul would be refreshed. In this, Paul sounds like the elder who wrote 3 John. I have no greater joy than that my children walk in the truth, 3 John 4. The point is that the whole epistle is founded upon the law of God, motivated by the grace of God. It is not, as so many people claim, it is not pitting The New Testament against the Old Testament is if God has somehow evolved into a kinder, gentler, more politically correct God. That is blasphemy. And yet there's so many commentaries that say exactly that. God's changed. He's become much kinder. This is an evolving state of affairs in the Bible. No, Instead, Paul is thankful that Philemon's whole life is characterized by obedience to the scriptures, and it is the scriptures alone that Paul operates from. There is a unity of purpose between the book of Philemon and the rest of the Bible. And it's in the C, D, and E sections that the doctrine of the restorative purpose of Old Testament slavery, I think, is introduced in a powerful way. First C begins at verse 8. 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. What's going on? Well, using the law of God, Paul could insist on freeing Onesimus by paying what was owed. He could command that, and no slave owner was allowed by biblical law to refuse a cash offer. But to do that would make Philemon look bad and would make Paul look like the one who has the really generous heart. And he's a friend of Philemon. He doesn't want that. Paul wants Philemon to know everything that has happened to Onesimus, wants Philemon to know what a blessing Onesimus has been to him. And he could, as a freeman, serve him. But Paul leaves it up to Philemon whether he would be the generous person or whether Paul would be the generous person. Okay, that's all Paul's asking. There's a choice between two options, but both options involve Onesimus' freedom. It's all perfectly in accord with God's law. And I should point out, Paul is making clear he's not wearing his apostle's hat here. He's not invoking his own authority. Instead, he's writing as a friend in need. Paul, the aged, and now also a prisoner of Jesus Christ. He's basically saying, I need help. And I think Onesimus is the perfect one who would be able to help me here. But though he appeals to Philemon, Philemon knows he owes Paul. And if Philemon chooses to free Onesimus, Paul will treat it as if Philemon has done this as a gift for Paul, because Onesimus is like a son to Paul, verse 10. Look at verses 20 through 22. Yes, brother, let me have joy from you in the Lord. I'm gonna see this as a gift from you, okay? Yes, brother, let me have joy from you in the Lord. Refresh my heart in the Lord. Having confidence in your obedience, I write to you knowing that you will do even more than I say. But meanwhile, also prepare a guest room for me for I trust that through your prayers I shall be granted to you. He's showing confidence in Philemon's generosity because Paul knows from past experience Philemon is exactly that kind of a generous person. But the way Paul asks this, it's totally up to Philemon. And Philemon comes out shining when he does come through. It's such a delicately worded letter that is looking out for Philemon's reputation, Philemon's honor. I mean, really, Paul wants Philemon and Onesimus' relationship to be a good relationship, not simply being concerned, oh, I want my relationship with Onesimus to be good. No, he wants him to be attracted to Philemon's heart as well. But he gets to the nub of the question in the two D sections. In verse 11, Paul makes a play on Onesimus' name, a name that means profitable, who once was unprofitable to you. He was like an un-Onesimus. He was unprofitable to you but now is profitable to you and to me. Apparently Onesimus was not a good worker. He had been unprofitable and even more so since he had taken advantage of the trust that Philemon had put in him. But somehow this runaway slave had run across Paul in prison, had gotten converted, and had had such a transformation of his character, he was now a new man, a very profitable man to Paul. He was living up to his name. Verses 12 through 14, I'm sending him back. You therefore receive him, that is, my own heart, whom I wish 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." Now, Paul could have just sent the money ahead in a financially cold, calculated way. The law, the biblical law, would have required that even a reluctant master would have to turn Onesimus free. He would be forced to, whether he wanted to or not. Now, of course, Roman law would have allowed Philemon to refuse that offer. He said, no way, Jose, I'm not going to do that. But not biblical law. Anyway, Paul knows Philemon will want to do this on his own, so he makes it Philemon's choice. Now, I'm going to return to verse 14 in a bit. But it's clear from what Paul is writing that he is not returning Onesimus to slavery. When Paul commands, you therefore receive him, it's clear he's not asking Paul, please receive him back as a slave. He wouldn't have to ask Philemon that. I mean, what slave would not, I mean, master would not want his slave back back then. No, but to receive Onesimus the way Paul wants him to be received would require a decision on Philemon's part that would be hard because it would cost him money, probably a lot of money. Um... He says here, to receive him as Paul's own heart means to treat Onesimus exactly the way you would treat Paul. Well, he's not going to treat Paul as a slave. Earlier, he had said to treat him as Paul's own son. He wouldn't enslave Paul's son. So he wants Philemon to receive Onesimus as if Onesimus was Paul himself. A very strong language. The second D section is even more clear. It starts at verse 15. where Paul appeals to God's very unusual providence in having the two meet. 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, and especially to me, but how much more to you, both in the flesh and in the Lord, if then you count me as a partner, receive him as you would me. To receive him forever means to receive him as a fellow believer for eternity. not to receive him as a permanent slave, as some have thought. That would not be forever. If this had just been an economic transaction, there would have been no joy in it for Philemon. But Paul gives Philemon opportunity upon opportunity to take credit for something that will benefit him, Onesimus, Paul, and really the whole church. In any case, verses 16 through 17 clearly contradict the interpretation that says that Onesimus is returning to be a permanent slave. Verse 16 again, I've said this a couple of times, quote, no longer as a slave. He's free if he's no longer to be treated as a slave. Verse 16 goes on to say, more than a slave, a beloved brother. Verse 17 makes it even stronger when it says, if then you count me as a partner, receive him as you would me. Philemon would never receive Paul as a slave, never. If Paul is a partner, then receiving Onesimus as you would receive me means receiving Onesimus as a partner. He's going to forego his money so that Onesimus can go into the ministries, basically what he's saying, as a partner in the gospel. And history tells us he did indeed become a partner in the gospel, became a pastor, and eventually became the moderator of the entire presbytery. So this was a call for full manumission, full freedom, and for defenders of the antebellum south to say otherwise is disingenuous. But since verse 14 is the heart of the chiasm, it makes clear that Paul is going to let Philemon decide. Even though Paul's willing to pay, he wants Philemon to have the honor of being able to do that. But without your consent, I wanted to do nothing that your good deed might not be by compulsion, as it were, but voluntary. First of all, manumission is a good deed. It's a fantastic deed. As long as there are criminals, there will be some kind of slavery, whether it's indentured servitude like the Bible mandates or whether it's the prison system. The prison system is a horrible, horrible slave system. You get out and you get right back in because you don't have the money. You don't have any of the things that are there. So God's law tried to move slaves as quickly as possible to freedom, and freeing a slave was a good deed. The only good deed is a lawful deed. So he's asking for something allowed in the law. Do not pit Philemon against the Old Testament laws so many people have done. But what does the phrase without your consent refer to? It refers to Paul's desire already stated in verse 13. That's what it's referring back to. Whom I wished to keep with me, that on your behalf he might minister to me in my chains for the gospel. Paul knew he couldn't keep Onesimus. He wished he could have Onesimus around, but he knew he couldn't keep him. Onesimus had to be returned to his rightful master. The law demanded that, but Paul is asking if Philemon would please consider freeing Onesimus so that he could return to Paul and minister to him as his heart longed to do. So Onesimus is willing, Paul is willing. The only question is, is Philemon willing to do this? Paul did not want his arm twisted into doing this. He wanted this to be voluntary. manumission of a lawfully procured indentured servant could never be involuntary unless, of course, he was being set free by a kinsman-redeemer, purchased by a kinsman-redeemer. Otherwise, it had to be an act of grace and goodwill, especially since Onesimus had not paid off his debt. So Paul lays before Philemon two options. Paul was willing to pay Philemon everything that biblical law would demand as compensation. Or second, since Philemon was quite wealthy and could afford to do so and loved supporting Paul, he was hoping that Philemon would treat this as a gift to Paul. Either way, the result would be freedom of Onesimus. All Philemon has to do is take the legal steps necessary to make sure Onesimus remained a free man under Roman law. Now, a little bit of historical background. Did this actually happen? Did Philemon free him? We're not told in the scripture, but interestingly, archaeologists did find an ancient inscription by a slave in that exact area that dedicates a monument to the master who freed him, and the master's name is Marcus Sestius Philemon. Was it the same person? Well, we don't know. I don't know how you would know. But the slave must have become rather a somebody to even put up that monument. He must have been a well-known somebody. And that ties in with the second piece of evidence. In a letter that alludes to this book of Philemon, Ignatius, the early church father, speaks of Onesimus as being the bishop or the moderator of Ephesus. And to me it appears, yes, Philemon did indeed bless Onesimus and Paul and the whole church with this economic gift. Here was a man that moved from slave to being bishop over Ephesus. Now let me end with four more applications. The first application is this book speaks of the value of having sanctuary states. You might wonder, how on earth did I come up with that from this text? Well, it actually comes from the date and the location that Paul wrote this epistle from. Obviously, there's controversy on that subject. Three different views out there. If this book was written from prison in Ephesus, then it's dated to 55 AD. If it was written, as the majority of people claim, from Rome, then it was written in AD 62. But there is an increasing number of scholars who believe there are just way too many problems with the Rome theory. It is crystal clear that Ephesians, Colossians, and Philemon were all written from the same place, were all delivered by Tychicus, And I won't bore you with all of the evidence, but I believe that Ephesians, Colossians, and this epistle were written from Caesarea in Israel in AD 58 while Paul was in prison in the Praetorian prison and ministering to Praetorian guards, leading them to Christ. And that's the position I took when I preached on those two epistles. So that's the background of my application. Why would I say that this speaks to the importance of sanctuary states? Well, neither Ephesus nor Rome were good places for a slave to run to. If I was a runaway slave, there is no way that I would go to Rome or Ephesus. You read some of the history and how slaves that were caught were treated. It is brutal. It is barbaric. Now, just assuming he didn't get branded and he didn't get killed, there was still a lot of professional what do they call them? Professionals who were hunting down slaves. They were not hired by other people. They did this for themselves. Bounty hunters is basically what they amounted to. And so they're always going around in different neighborhoods, getting hints and tips from different people on who might be a slave, and then they would capture this person and get money. And the treatment of those slaves was absolutely horrible. Rome and Ephesus were the two worst places to run to. Second, to get to Rome, he would have had to have traveled by ship. And it would have been impossible for him to hide his identity on that ship. Of course, there are many other reasons why I reject Rome as the place of authorship. But this is one. It's more likely that this runaway slave would have traveled by land. And so that leaves the Caesarea theory. Caesarea was in Israel, and Israel still followed biblical laws on slavery and eventually freedom. Since Philemon's house was where the church met, that's what the book of Philemon says, the whole church met in his house, Onesimus would no doubt have heard the scriptures many, many times. He may very well have heard the scriptures that showed the good treatment of slaves in Israel. And so in the entire empire, Israel was a kind of sanctuary state. Their law did not allow the return of a slave to any foreigner, period. And slaves were treated quite well. So, back to my application. I believe there is huge value in setting up sanctuary states today for the unborn, and for people who don't want forced vaccinations, and for homeschoolers to flee to if they start getting persecuted in one state. I'm thankful that our Attorney General here in Nebraska is making Nebraska inhospitable to the sex slave industry, which is a huge industry in America. He's trying to put a kibosh to that, these sex slave traffickers. Especially as this country degenerates quickly, it may become increasingly important for Christians to ask their states to become sanctuary states. Some states are trying to become sanctuary states for guns and gun manufacturers. Oklahoma for babies. Other states have been asked to consider protecting other liberties. A second application is that no one should view their current difficult plight as their permanent destiny. Okay, Onesimus was an unbelieving slave, was a fugitive whose money was probably running out, and yet God's grace brought him to faith, to transformation, and to freedom. Indeed, at least some commentators believe Ignatius is writing about this Onesimus as the one who became the moderator, the bishop of the neighboring Presbytery of Ephesus. Now the point is, Don't be chained to your past failures. Your past failures are not your identity. Christ's call upon your life is what should give you vision. Be driven by the future. I think there's too many people who are driven by their past bondage And so they call themselves gay Christians or transgender Christians, or they just think of themselves as permanent failures. We have to say, no, that is not your identity. Your identity is in Christ Jesus. And if Christ has set you free, you shall be free indeed. In fact, Paul, acting as a kinsman redeemer, Maybe a hint, we ought to be looking to the fact that this is Christ's role in our lives to be a kinsman redeemer for us and to forever free us from our past bondage, to change our destiny. Onesimus is a beautiful symbol of what the gospel can do. A third application is that we should avoid false dilemmas when we interpret the scriptures. A false dilemma presents you just two options. It's either this or this. Here's what some commentators say. Here's what others. We lean in this direction. That's the kind of false dilemma that you see. Too many interpreters of Philemon present only two options. Either this book supports chattel slavery, or this book supports abolitionism. And then they just line up which one best fits the book. Both sides can appeal to some evidence. Otherwise you wouldn't have those commentaries. These are good commentators. They both have some evidence within the book, but neither side does the whole book justice. There's obviously freedom being obtained, but it was obtained in one of the two ways outlined in the law of God. Philemon, and I cannot emphasize this enough, Philemon is not a New Testament ethic that is brand new. It is a biblical ethic that is consistent from Genesis to Revelation. And so the point is, don't let commentators force you to accept one of two options, especially if both of those options contradict the rest of the scripture. And of the 90 plus commentaries on Philemon that I own, most have failed to break out of this false dilemma. Just be aware, this reductionism tends to be a problem in many books of the Bible. My fourth application is that this book calls us all to humility in our relationships. Paul describes the rich Philemon. as, quote, a fellow laborer, twice calls him his brother. But then Paul calls Onesimus with exactly the same phrase, a beloved brother. He's still a slave, but he's a beloved brother, and he's a son who has ministered to him. So in Christ, we are all equal. And yes, there are offices that Christ has delegated and authorities and role relationships that we have that differ. But in ourselves, we are equal, and we ought to treat each other with the honor and dignity that being in Christ deserves. There are a lot of other applications we could make from this beautiful book, but we're just going to end with those four. May God bless you. Amen. Father, we thank you for this beautiful little book, and we know there are many other lessons in it, but I pray that even the ones that we have looked at today would grip our hearts. We would desire to have the hospitality that Philemon had, to open our homes and generously give of our time, of our efforts, of our finances to fund the kingdom of Jesus Christ and to bless the kingdom of Jesus Christ. May we refresh the saints with our words, with our actions, with our hospitality. I pray that you would bless the hospitality of this afternoon as people meet with each other. And we thank you, Father, for the privilege that we have of being recipients of your incredible hospitality at this Lord's table, of your incredible liberating of our souls from bondage, if any here sense within their spirit, that they are still chained to the past and their old identity. I pray that you would give them this confidence that they can be broken free. If Christ makes us free, we shall be free indeed. Bless this, your congregation, we pray in Jesus' name. Amen.