we've read a short time ago and we can take us just the leading theme of the epistle
where you find Paul here addressing Philemon in this way where he's saying
about the love that that he has for Philemon and Philemon has for him as well so if you look at
verse 8 accordingly though I am bold enough in Christ to commend you to do what is required yet
for love's sake I prefer to appeal to you especially these words will take the whole
letter as it is but look at it under the direction of these words because really I think that captures
the spirit of the letter for love's sake how well that describes the apostle's own relationship
with Christ and also his work as an apostle I'm sure you've done this a number of times I certainly
have when you've opened a letter that's come into your possession into your house recently there was
one came in and I didn't have my glasses on and it I noticed the word James and 46 Francis Street so
off I went and opened it and then when I opened it it was actually a document addressed to James Murray
fortunately it was nothing really private or anything like that but it's always a privilege
to be able to read the likes of a letter like Philemon because this is a very personal letter
and it's a letter in many ways different to any of the other letters of the apostle although the
letters to Timothy and to Titus are personal they're addressed to them as individuals but they're really
much more in the context of the wider church and the way in which they they're being given directions
for their place in the church but this is a letter to this individual loved by the apostle and
dealing with this escaped slave Onesimus Onesimus who had escaped from Philemon's household
and had come to be and somewhere other made and made a contact with with the apostle Paul and under the
apostle's teaching came to be converted and that changed man and now Paul is sending him back to Philemon
with these directions instructions really as well so that Philemon will receive him back even as he would have
received Paul himself so first thing to take from the letter really I think is that grace the grace that brings us
to know the Lord and the salvation grace produces a Christian character grace produces Christian character in
every single one of us who knows the grace of God as it operates in our lives that means that it doesn't matter
what kind of background we have what kind of upbringing we've had what kind of situation in life we've got
the grace of God that brings us to know the Lord actually produces a Christian character it actually
brings us to be a Christian people in the image of Christ himself to serve the Lord in different ways
and you can see that this man who was converted through the apostle Paul if you look at verses 4 to 5 you can
see what Paul is saying that I thank you uh my God this is in writing to talking about Philemon 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
towards the Lord Jesus and all the saints and I pray that the sharing of your faith goes on to say might be
effective so the apostle is giving thanks for the faith and the love that Philemon has already
and that is actually reaching out towards what he calls the saints especially and the Lord Jesus
and the saints Paul has come to know of this man Philemon as now he serves the Lord as grace has changed
his life and reached into his life this is the product of that grace this Christian character this concern
for the love that he has for the Lord Jesus the love that is in Paul himself of course as well so
that's the first thing he's saying faith and love towards Jesus and the saints is one of the chief
evidences that you have of someone whose life has been changed and the second thing in verses 6 to 7
that then has a positive impact on the whole of the Christian community 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 what a magnificent statement how much would you want that
and I would want that to be said of myself by somebody who could genuinely say that's what I see in you
that's what I find in you not only do you love the Lord and do you love the saints but the sharing of
your faith the sharing out of your faith the way in which you relate to other people and show your faith
to them and express your faith to them that it may become effective for the full knowledge of every good
thing that is in us for the sake of Christ the hearts of the saints have been refreshed through you
there's a wonderful image there a picture there of how the grace that changes our lives or the lives
that have been changed by grace are themselves lives which affect those within the Christian community
the Christian church the Christian congregation but also out with that that it may become effective
I think he's including they're not just among the saints but effective out with that as well
so that knowledge the full knowledge of everything that is in us for the sake of Christ and that's
really resulted in Paul's joy and comfort I have derived much joy and comfort from your love my brother
doesn't just mean the love that Philemon has shown to him personally but the love that Philemon has shown
to his fellow Christians to the world around him for the apostle that is a source of much joy and much
comfort and isn't that how it is for ourselves what gives you greater comfort than to know that God is
using you however small a way you might see it to be or I might see it to be if it brings refreshment if
it brings comfort if it brings some help to those who are in need and struggling then that's surely a source
of much comfort of much comfort and joy for ourselves that's really what our Christian life is directed
towards directed by grace towards the refreshing the help the teaching the support of others
now that's really the description of Philemon what grace has done to Philemon is expressed there and
what he is to Paul and what he is to his fellow Christians and even what he is out with that as
he shares his faith that God has given him then he speaks about Onesimus as well I appeal to you he
says verse 10 for my child Onesimus whose father I became in my imprisonment and by that he means I became
a spiritual father in my imprisonment Paul had come into contact on Onesimus somehow came into
contact with Paul during this imprisonment and here is the result of it he had become a Christian
he was converted and now he is saying I appeal to you for this my child my spiritual child whose father
I became in my imprisonment and then you notice what he says it's in brackets but it's actually a really
powerful statement formerly he was useless to you but now he is indeed useful to you and to me
you see how how much a change has happened in this man who who ran away as a slave from Philemon's home
from the works that he was doing there ran away as somebody who was just then openly and seeking to
escape from that way of life but now he's been converted normally he says he was useless to you
that word's important it means um more than just well we use the word useless usually don't we of
somebody that you're giving some work to or somebody that's trying to do something for you and ends up
making a mess of it some so you just say that's you're useless just I'll get somebody else or I'll do it
myself that's not the the the meaning of the word useless it's stronger than that useless here has the
idea of being harmful being actually bad not just being useless and not able to do the work properly
or something like that the word really means he was bad he was not dependable he he was somebody who
who was harmful and did harm to you but that's changed into the opposite now he is indeed
useful to me and that word means very beneficial you see he's gone from somebody who was really out
to do harm somebody whose life was really about damaging other people including his former employer
but now he's become a christian now he's been changed by grace he's become the opposite of what
he was he's become useful he's become very beneficial and if there's one thing that should characterize your
own life and mine it's this whatever background we've come from whatever we were when god came and
converted us and changed our lives around the one thing that should be obvious about us to some degree
or other in some way or other is that we are useful people useful for the lord because we are servants of
christ we are servants in the sense that we want to be useful in his employment for him to use to bring
benefit to those around us to those near to us to those in our christian community in our congregation to those
out with that in our neighborhood in our workplace wherever if it said of us that we are useful for the lord
that's a great thing because that's really what the christian life is all about isn't it to be useful now i'm not
saying by that that you would say of yourself that you're a very useful person and i wouldn't say it of myself
but god changes us so that he makes us of use in some way or other to other people and to be useful
in a world that has so so many needs is itself a wonderful emphasis
and we may never be the best at any kind of job that we're involved with there may be others
who are far better at it than we as christians may be that doesn't mean because we're christians or
because a christian a doctor or nurse or whatever work we're doing um that they're christians that
they know the lord that they're going to be the very best at doing that job that they're going to be
the most skilled at doing it it doesn't follow that way but there should be nobody more dedicated
nobody's nobody more dependable nobody more honest nobody with a greater desire to be useful in every
way than a christian than a person whose life god has touched this is what he's saying the grace that
has turned philemon that's affected philemon and brought him to be a means of refreshing to the saints
well that grace has touched the life of onesimus and now onesimus has turned from being useless
harmful to being very beneficial in fact his name itself onesimus actually has to do with the idea
of being useful and the way that he puts it here he's useful to me or to you and to me
i think paul is striking a note there that's important and it's something like this he is
useful to the kingdom of god to the work of the kingdom whether he's working for me or alongside
me or working for you back with yourself i'm sending him back to you doesn't matter where he is but
this is for you and for me for the kingdom he is now useful he's a useful instrument under god
and of course grace as you see it here it comes through and what the apostle is saying of himself
as well not just about philemon and about onesimus but also about himself his attitude for example
to his imprisonment he launches out into this little wonderful letter full of love
all a prisoner for christ jesus and timothy our brother he goes on speaking of himself
through the epistle a number of times he refers to himself in different ways and you can see
there in verses 18 and 19 if he has wronged you at all or owes you anything charge that to my account
i paul write this was my own hand i will repay it to say nothing of you're owing me even your own
self the words paul is saying you actually under god owe what you are to me through my ministry for god
but he said i'm not really concerned about that i do want you to realize that if this man has wronged you
if he's robbed you if he's done something bad to you as previously uh he's saying he was that kind of
person put that on my account i'll pay it for him i'll make up for it even if he's not able to make
up for it i'll do it for him what a wonderful heart the apostle had and what a wonderful insight that
gives us into the way that a christian prioritizes not just the needs of others but the needs of others
even to the extent that they would put themselves out in order to actually support them and make up
for whatever deficiencies this man had to his employer philemon
it shows itself doesn't it in i mean paul is really saying here well there's no need for it in a sense
that you would receive him in this way other than your christian duty
but when we had ourselves converted one of the great tests of that is that when things don't go
your way what is your reaction when things are different to the way you'd have ordered it yourself
or myself how do we respond to that here is paul in prison he wouldn't have chosen that for himself
it's not something he would have said this is what i'd really love to be therefore i'm going to make
my way into prison and just stay there it just so happened he's there for christ and whatever led to
it we're not sure but he's there for the lord jesus christ's sake because he was prominently a christian
an apostle in some way that led to this
but still see he's saying here if he has wronged you charge that to my account
in other words paul is really saying however things fall out however things come to be
and you find them as they are you bring it to god and you say well how can i be useful
how can i be useful even in regard to this thing how can my savior come through in my attitude and action
in regard to this thing that i hadn't chosen for myself but this is how it is for him philemon
onesimus and paul three lives intertwined each of them changed by the grace of god
but intertwined into being useful instruments for the kingdom of christ
so grace produces a christian character but grace grace also positively affects relationships
you see here why paul is writing to him and describing to philemon our beloved fellow worker
and then aphia our sister archipas our fellow soldier and the church in your house and then
in these ways you can see how he's describing there um the way in which uh these people are so precious
to the apostle uh there's no rivalry mentioned there there's nothing of jealousy mentioned there
there's a paul the prisoner but timothy is his brother his his spiritual brother philemon is his brother
his beloved fellow worker there's no jealousy on the part of the apostle as to
how much he's achieved compared to philemon or vice versa they're in it together they're in it
sharing in the work of the gospel and it's all about helping each other however god allocates success or
otherwise and he calls here aphia our sister archipas our fellow soldier
he paul is very much aware that he's not alone in the battle and he's thankful
for those other christians that support him and he's calling them his fellow soldiers
that's what you are here i am tonight standing in this pulpit as i often do and thankful for it
and thankful for your own presence to receive the the gospel through the ministry of the gospel
to the preaching of the gospel but where would i be without you being fellow soldiers if i was just
the only person on the front line in the gospel here in this congregation where would that be i would
certainly not be at all confident of much but i am because you are my fellow soldiers
you are conjoined together and joined with me in the preaching of the gospel in the ministry of the
gospel you're taking your own share of what it is to be in the battle for christ
and to actually be at the forefront sometimes of that battle what a great privilege it is to
to be able to call each other fellow soldiers poor soldiers poor workers in the kingdom of christ
and that really as you see in verses eight to nine leads on to though i am bold enough in christ to
commend you to command you to do what is required yet for love's sake i prefer to appeal to you and
these again are wonderful words paul is saying i'm an apostle actually i'm not going to stress that he's
saying i'm not going to really um build what i'm saying on the fact that i'm an apostle although it's true
i could command you i could actually set it out by saying look i am the apostle paul you owe under me
you owe yourself to me in the sense that i was used for your conversion but he's saying that's not the
road i want to go down instead i appeal to you for love's sake or love's sake
whatever we can or cannot achieve through loving each other
it'll certainly always be a lot more that we can what we can do by way of command or forcing the
issues i was talking in the school yesterday and today to a class about what is the work of a
minister what does a minister do and one of the questions that was asked they sent in the questions
ahead of them they were very very good questions and it was a privilege to to be there but one of the
questions was would you force an atheist to believe what you believe good question would you force an
atheist would you try to force an atheist to believe what you believe and of course my answer to that was
no because the work of the gospel whether it's in the minister or any christian it's not about forcing
people's minds it's not about trying to force the issue so that you're pressing people against their
will into believing what you believe into being the kind of person that you would like them to be
for love's sake you set out the love of jesus the love of god you show your christian love as a product of
god's grace
and our appeals always have to be for love's sake of course that doesn't mean that in the church there
should never be such a thing as as instruction given or rebukes given whenever that's necessary
or commands in the sense that we come from god's word to say to somebody maybe whose life has gone
somewhat astray and say well this is what god is commanding you've got to you've got to really take
note of that that's there's a place for that but even that has to be done in the spirit of love
for love's sake because nothing is as effective as love and the workings of love and the emphases of
love and love always has to predominate in everything that we do and that's how god persuades us isn't it
um it's not that necessarily that we we have no experience of his law touching our lives showing our
sins bringing us guilt before the lord and if the law does that then that's god at work but what does
god then do he brings you to the gospel he brings you to the love that's shown in christ and in his
death and in his resurrection and there is where um the law having done its work if you like if that's
been the case it always brings us to the gospel to the love of god and for love's sake really is
something you could say is applicable to god's way of working as well the love that is shown to us
in christ and that's how it it does change people this grace that changes people it brings about this
great product of of love this fruit of that change is love i remember hearing once about two elders
weren't in the same congregation weren't in the same congregation but uh they were now at a ripe old
age and having reached an age where they were both in a care home and both failing in health
um but they had been somewhat um uh well they weren't really on the best of terms let's say
always uh in the earlier stages of their life were different congregations but they ended up in the
same care home and one actually uh lost his sight completely physically still very strong he was a
big man but he had lost his sight the other one was very slight and although he had his eyesight
he was very weak physically and really needed support and uh somebody had said they had seen them one
day walking out in the garden of the care home holding on to each other and you can see what's
happening there the one who was slight and really weak and finding it difficult really to get the
strength to walk was hanging on to the big man who had the strength but didn't have the eyesight
and the fellow who was the weak he was the eyes of the fellow who was strong i think that's
a wonderful illustration of how with our different needs we help each other through the course of life
we are endowed by god to fit in alongside of others different in many respects but for love's sake
and through love that support is so crucial to the progressing of our christian life and experience
for love's sake and that's why paul mentions the word heart here you'll notice that as we read through
it verse 7 so what he's saying that i've derived much comfort joy and comfort because the hearts
of the saints have been refreshed verse 12 you go there you see mentioning again i'm sending him back to you
sending my very heart and then you find verse 20 yes brother i want some benefit from you in the lord refresh my heart in christ
in other words paul is really taking us into the inner substance and working of our souls
and he's sending on esimus back he's sending his own heart his own love
he's talking about the heart of the saints the hearts of the saints the very spiritual
inners of the saints have been refreshed by philemon and for paul of course
love is so important the matter of the heart what he's saying to the to the philippians chapter 1 verse
this i pray that your love may abound more and more your love collectively started somebody the other
day about sanctification and how sanctification by and large in the new testament especially in paul's
writings it's not a matter for individual growth there is that but paul is right into the context of
the church together and when the church together is required to grow it's together that they grow
you and i contribute to each individual's growth to our own personal growth but to the growth of the body
in love as he puts it in ephesians
and so it's for love's sake you're never to be satisfied with something other than
the very heart of things and the very heart of things is the heart of love so there's paul and
philemon but you can see philemon and onesimus we've mentioned some of this already
onesimus has caused much pain so you could say really that this this very personal little letter is
about reconciliation it's about a reconciliation between philemon and his former slave onesimus
and uh that's really a test here for philemon verse 16 very much a test where he's saying
i'm sending him back to you no longer as a slave but more than a slave as a beloved brother especially
to me but how much more to you both in the flesh and in the lord now paul has said i would have been
glad to keep him here with me had i thought that was the right thing to do that's what i would have
done in order that he might serve me on your behalf during my imprisonment but i prefer to do
nothing without your consent so that your goodness might not be by compulsion but of your own free will
so he's saying that that's what he's then saying sending him back to him is how much he's now to receive
him no longer as a slave well what a test that was for philemon here was a man who had wronged him
who had been bad who had not been good in any sense in the way that the word means uh to be good to
to actually be reliable he'd run away he'd done some damage and now paul is saying receive him back
but don't receive him back just as a servant or as a slave receive him as a brother in christ
receive him as somebody who will be alongside of yourself in the kingdom of god in the work of of of
serving jesus and that's why he calls him um beloved it's a forgiveness that he's asking for
for for philemon to forgive this man uh to forgive him by such in such a way as will demonstrate that
forgiveness by receiving him back as a brother in christ that's a test that he has to meet it's a test
that he has to overcome and you see what he's saying in verse 17 if you consider me your partner
receive him as you would receive me
receive him as you would receive me in other words paul is saying to him
if i was to appear on your doorstep philemon tomorrow
the spirit in which you receive me there is how i want you to receive onesimus
coming back to you as a brother christian
you see how grace has changed things now grace is now what philemon needs to to have and to know and
to to show in receiving onesimus back receiving paul is saying in other words he's not just to receive
him back into his employment he's not just to forgive him in a sort of outward sense or in a formal sense
he's saying what i want you to do is to welcome him
there's the test for you and for me when we have been wronged when we've fallen out with some folk
then they come back and they ask i'm really really sorry forgive me it must never be
in the spirit of reluctance or just a formality
the challenge is to welcome the reconciliation
to welcome the opportunity to forgive because that's how god dealt with ourselves
so welcome him he's saying um and uh you can just imagine the picture just now
of onesimus having gone back to philemon
and the lord's supper is going to be next week
wherever it's going to be this church in the house
uh the church in your house of aras aras arquebus
our fellows and the church in your house he's saying to philemon all of those those people i think it's philemon's house he means there
and you imagine well let's let's imagine they're going to observe the lord's supper
and along comes philemon and who's with him
onesimus
and where do they sit
beside each other
not one above the other
not one more important than the other
at the lord's table
all
is on the same level
there are no ranks
at the lord's supper
we are all
one
in christ jesus
for the sake
of love
we say
so grace produces
christian character
grace
positively affects
our relationships
in christ
and it shows the power of the gospel friends
power of the gospel to
to change
matters positively
to restore
not just individuals to each other
so that they welcome the reconciliation
this is the gospel
that has the power
to extend beyond that
to change
broken homes
broken lives
communities
nations even
through the power of christ
for the sake
of love
let's pray
almighty god
we give thanks
tonight
that we are here
in the love
that you have shown
to us
and we ask
oh lord
that you would help us
to respond in love
not only to you
and to our fellow
believers
but also to the world
around us
for you require us
to go beyond loving
one another
even to the love
of our enemies
we give thanks lord
for the opportunities
you give us
to do this
but we pray
your forgiveness
for the times we fail you
as we do lord
so often
and we pray
that tonight
we might indeed
increase in our love
for each other
that our love
may abound
more and more
that we may welcome
whenever reconciliation
and forgiveness
is required
lord help us lord
not to
enter into any of that
reluctantly
give us to be glad
that
issues are
mended
when they need to be mended
give us lord
to to know
that even
in the
larger sense
whether it be
between
congregations
or denominations
or communities
as well as individuals
we thank you lord
for the pattern
set
by the love of god
in christ jesus
we pray these things
seeking
that you would receive us
and hear the prayers
of your people
silently
and also spoken
and all for jesus sake
amen
we're going to now conclude