As we turn to this evening series going through Paul's letter to Philemon, let me begin by saying in this letter, we encounter three unique individuals. We have Paul, the once proud Pharisee turned apostle. Philemon, a wealthy landowner in the city of Colosse, the Colossian church. And we have Onesimus, a poor slave. Think on that last name for a minute, Onesimus. It's not a random name. In Greek, the name means useful. Over the next four weeks, as we spend four weeks on these 25 verses, we're gonna find out that Onesimus was anything
but useful. Uh, he was a runaway, maybe a thief. It's not quite sure. But he was a man who had nothing to offer anybody. But God's grace has a way of making useless people really useful. And here's the thing I want us to reckon with before we even begin verse one. Every one of us in this room has been, or maybe even still is in certain areas of life, an Onesimus. We'll come back to that. Just hold that away. Tuck it away for now. What happens when these three very different individuals encounter one another and come face to face with the gospel?
They are all radically changed. They're changed so much that they begin to see each other not as enemies, but as brothers. And so I think we could title a series on Philemon, Grace on the Ground, because it teaches us what happens when the grace of God grips a heart. Or to say it another way, when God gives grace to a sinful human being, that human being doesn't remain the same. They change, and everything changes. God's grace reorients and transforms everything.
A few details on this little letter of Philemon. One, Paul wrote this letter when he was in a Roman prison somewhere between AD 58 to 62. Next, Philemon is the shortest of all of Paul's letters. It only contains 335 words, uh, and it's the most personal of Paul's letters. Third, Philemon. Who is Philemon? Well, we've heard that he was a wealthy landowner, a Gentile, not a Jew, a Gentile landowner, lived in the city of Colosse, became a believer through
Paul's ministry. He was also a leader in the Colossian church, which according to verse two, I think, meets in his house. I think that's what, that's literal there. We're supposed to take that. Uh, one small note on this, that the church met in Philemon's house. God did not wait for this crisis with Onesimus, uh, to show up before he even started ranging all of Philemon's life and home. Uh, by the time this letter arrives to Philemon in his hands, there is a church meeting in his
living room. God's grace has done much to prepare the man to receive the letter in which he will be asked to do one of the hardest things he's ever been asked to do. All that, G- God has been preparing this for much time before he actually ever receives this letter. Fourth, Paul probably, probably sent this small letter to Philemon along with the bigger letter to the whole church at Colosse. They probably came in a package deal, right? Here's the letter to the Colossians.
Here's one for just you, Philemon. And fifth, the three central figures of this letter, Paul, Philemon, Onesimus. If we were to say, to sum up this whole letter, we could just say this. The heart of the letter has to do with how grace changes the heart. Onesimus, Philemon's slave, has wronged Philemon somehow, that's verse 18, has run away through an unknown sequence of events and met Paul in prison, verse nine, was converted, verse 10, and became a useful partner to Paul in Paul's gospel ministry.
That's verse 11 to 13. But Roman law demanded That once Paul learned that Onesimus was a slave, he would have to be sent back to his owner. And so, with Onesimus comes the letter to Philemon, where Paul pleads with Philemon to receive Onesimus back, verse 17, forgive him, verse 18, and to treat him no longer as a slave but as a brother, verse 16. And then to render, and to return, send Onesimus back to Paul so that he can continue to be useful in ministry alongside him, verse 13 and verse 21. That's just a little snapshot.
We'll see all this in the next four weeks as we go slowly through the letter. Tonight, our focus is just verse one to seven, the introduction to the letter where we find two main sections. In verse one to three, Paul's greeting. And then in verse four to seven, Paul's first remarks. Follow along as I read verse one to seven of Philemon. Verse one. Paul, a prisoner for Christ Jesus and Timothy our brother, to Philemon, our beloved fellow worker, and
Apphia, our sister, and Archippus, our fellow soldier, and the church in your house, grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. I thank my God always when I remember you in my prayers because I hear of your love and of the faith that you have toward the Lord Jesus and for all the saints. And I pray that the sharing of your faith may become effective for the full knowledge of every good thing that is in us for the sake of Christ. For I have derived much joy and comfort from your love, my brother, because the hearts of the saints have been refreshed through you. What words.
Let's look at the greeting in verse one to three first. I think it's fair to say that in Paul's greeting to Philemon, we see two things, things we're used to and things we're not used to. The things we're used to first. On one hand, we see things we're used to. Paul's name begins many of his letters. This is simply how you began a letter in this day and age. We're used to seeing that. We're also used to seeing Paul say, "Timothy says hi," in all of his letters as well.
Uh, he does it in five of them, and he did it here because Philemon probably knew Timothy from their time together in Ephesus where Paul was being held in his Roman prison. We're also used to seeing names to whom the letter is addressed in Paul's greeting, and we're used to seeing the words in verse three from Paul, "Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ." This appears in every greeting of Paul's letters. All 13 letters, this phrase is in there. Shows us much of his heart toward those that he is addressing. That's all the things we're used to seeing in Paul's greetings.
Here are some things we're not used to seeing from Paul that's unique to a few of the letters and especially to Philemon. We're not used to seeing Paul addressing a letter to individual people. Of all 13 of his letters, nine are addressed to churches. Only four are addressed to certain individuals. Can we, can we get them? Timothy. Timothy. Timothy got how many? Two. Two. 1 Timothy, 2 Timothy. Titus and- Philemon ... Philemon. There we go. We got the four.
That's it. We're not used to seeing that. Usually, it's the churches, right? Not an individual person. Verse two shows us that Philemon, a beloved fellow worker. This means he's a close friend of Paul's. He's a minister of the gospel. We see mention of Apphia. We think this is Philemon's wife. We then see Archippus. We think that's his son or son-in-law, who very well could be the pastor, one of the pastors of the church in Colossians because we hear of Archippus in Colossians 4:17 where Paul calls him a fellow worker in the Lord and encourages him to
keep on going in the ministry that God has given him, to not grow weary, to keep on. We're also not used to seeing, this is one of the main things here, Paul does not identify himself as the apostle here. Paul, Apostle of Jesus Christ. He doesn't say this. Rather, he uses the label prisoner. Out of all his letters, the only ones where he doesn't introduce himself as apostle are Philemon, both letters to the Thessalonians, and Philippians. That he does this, that he goes under the label prisoner, is telling, purposeful, it
sets the tone for the whole letter, and it really gives us a preview of the content of this letter before us. By beginning this way, the letter immediately feels more personal, more gentle, and more like a friendly appeal than a letter coming with apostolic, full-blown authority. Now, don't mishear that. Paul's still Paul. He's still the apostle Paul, but Paul's intentionally going out of his way, choosing words here, to reduce the feel of command to his friend.
But he's not setting his authority aside. What's he doing? He's converting it into something that Philemon really is not going to be able to argue with. He's converting it into something that's going to set up the big ask to come when he makes the request of Philemon. Anybody can pull rank and just tell you to do what you need to do. Paul does not do this. It takes grace, God's grace, to exchange the word apostle for prisoner and then make that land more compelling to Philemon
than the word apostle. So when Philemon hears Paul a prisoner, he's not hearing a complaining man. He's hearing from one who has already suffered a great deal in his life and having to bear much for the cause of the gospel, bear so much that what he's about to ask of him will seem very little in comparison to what Paul is already bearing himself. So even in this greeting, the grace of God is at work. There's gospel logic preparing the heart of Philemon for what he's about to hear.
I think there's a principle here that is worth naming in our life together in the church. We'll see it at work in almost every remaining verse in this letter, and we will experience it in every relationship, either for the good or for the poor that we have in life. When it's done well, relationships work like this. Grace precedes demand. Grace goes first. Demand comes second. Paul does not make this request of him just cold. He's already treated Philemon with extraordinary grace before he ever asks him to extend grace to someone else.
This really is something of the setting up of the paradigm before we get into the heart of the letter here later on in verse 8 to 22, the meat of the request. That's the greeting. Now look at verse 4 to 7, Paul's first remarks. These first remarks are exactly what you think they'd be if you were listening to a conversation between close friends, right? It's genuine. It's warm. There's an expression of affection for this man. But why? Is there some kind of emotional manipulation going on here?
I mean, the skeptic could look at this and be like, oh, I think Paul's manipulating, just buttering up him because he knows he's about to make a great ask of him. I don't think that's the most godly of postures to have of this. Paul's not underhanded, not manipulating. He's not just buttering him up. I think rather he's going to give reasons why he feels such affection for Philemon. He gives reasons in verse 5 and 7. Then he prays for Philemon in verse 4 and 6.
Let's do the reasons first, then the prayers. In verse 5, we find reason 1. Paul has heard of Philemon's love and faith toward the Lord Jesus, and Paul has heard of Philemon's love and faith toward all the saints. When those words come to mind, I think each of us perhaps has people in mind that we think of that. We maybe have visitors in from out of town. We have friends visiting, maybe missionaries coming in. Oh, I know they're going to love blank.
I'm going to take them to their house. 'Cause they love Jesus, and they love anybody who loves Jesus. That'll be a great conversation to see these two people connect, and I'll just get to watch that. That's something of what's going on here. For this, in verse five, this is the ground, the reason of his prayer in verse four. Even though it comes after, this is why he prays what he does. He thanks God every time he remembers Philemon because of this very reason.
Verse seven contains reason two. Paul's heart has received much joy and comfort and refreshment through Philemon's love for him and his love for Christ's church. Apparently, to Paul, the church in Colossae, and to many others, Philemon, look at this, he's like water. He's a refreshment to the weary soul. Because of this refreshment, Paul, when he prays for Philemon, this is what he thinks of. "I know that you're such a refreshment, and so when I pray for you, I pray that your knowledge of every good thing that is in us for the sake
of Christ would become full through you sharing your faith." He's thinking with those in your household and in the city of Colossae. So notice what Paul's asking. It's a play on words here. Paul's asking God to refresh the one who's been such a refreshment to others. You see? This is, this is what he's doing here. Specifically, that God would refresh Philemon by making Philemon's knowledge of all the good things he has in Christ full. So Paul recognizes he loves God, he loves the church, that he knows the Lord.
He's been a refreshment to all, and what does he pray for? Give that one more of you. That he would more refresh all those who come in contact with him. Paul is doing something here. He's not just praising Philemon's track record of refreshment. He's laying groundwork. I know I've said it a lot, but he's preparing for what's to come. Because in just a few verses, he's gonna ask for Philemon to do something very costly, and the unspoken logic producing verse seven is very simple.
You have been water to so many thirsty souls, Philemon. Surely, you won't let me, your dear friend, go without being refreshed by you now, right? I'm seeking refreshment of my soul from you, who have been such a refreshment to so many. Paul is a master of pastoral persuasion. I think that's what's going on here. He's not manipulating him with emotions. This is pastoral persuasion. He's reminding him of who he already is in Christ, what he already has in Christ, and he wants all of that to grow before
he even mentions the name Onesimus. The sore spot, perhaps, in his heart and life. The thorn in his side. Two implications for us to tease out among many. First, we see here a truth that we need to be reminded of. You cannot claim to love Christ if you have no love for His church. You cannot claim to love Christ if you have no love for His church. This is precisely what Paul sees in Philemon's heart and what prompts Paul to thank God for His work in and through
this man in verse four to seven. Now, Christ and His church are separate things, and love for Christ is not the same as love for Christ's church. But Christ and His church are inextricably bound together, so when we grow in love for Jesus, we will also find ourselves growing in love toward all those who also love and belong to Jesus. One produces the other. The more you seek to love Christ, the more you'll find your heart loving the things that Christ loves.
What does Christ love the most? His glory. His glory. What is the means by which Christ will be glorified here in the earth? His church. So the more we love Jesus, the more we- We will love the church. To turn away from one is to turn away from them both. This is why the early church father Cyprian expressed it so well in just one phrase: "If God is your father, the church will be your mother." God places love in the heart of Philemon. Paul loved it and thanked God for it.
In your own heart, is such a love present for the church? Do you feel a love, a respect, a yearning to be in it, to be used by God in it so it grows more and more and comes to be a great blessing to yourself, your family, and the city that it's placed in? Or are we neutral on the church? Are we bringing our own agenda to the church saying, "As long as the church is caught up in things that I think the church should be caught up in, that's when I'll love the church, 'cause I'm really the one who's the consumer here, and this is my marketplace." Or are you just disinterested, and you're a barnacle on the bottom of the sunrise boat just hitching along for the ride? Philemon's love for Christ and love for his church shows us the normal pattern for all believers.
If we love one, we will love the other. If we grow in love for Jesus, we will grow in love for Jesus' bride. If we love Him, we will love His people. As messed up as His people can be, we will love them because we're messed up, too. Um, a very mature older pastor once, uh, was having a conversation about this. I'm gonna leave names out 'cause you guys know these people. Um, you know all the friends I hang out with, right? So, uh, a younger pastor and I were meeting with this older pastor, and the other younger pastor was complaining,
"There's so, there's a lot of strange people in my church." And I started laughing. I was like, "Okay." And I'm like, "What, what's this wise sage gonna say here to our young worker?" He was younger than me, and I was like, "Oh, I've said that before. I, I know what I was told." Uh, and I was just sitting back watching. I was like, "This will be fun." And he s- he s- uh, I'll just, just say Bob. His name's not Bob. He said, "Bob, you have a lot of strange people in your church?" He was like, "Yeah.
I thought, you know, like, why is it I just collect them? Why do they all come to me?" And he said, "Bob, you ever thought that you're strange?" And he was just like... He looked at me, and I was like, "What are you... I don't know. What are you saying?" He was like, "Eventually you have to come around and just own up. You're part of the strangeness, too. The sooner you do that, the more you'll love them." And I was like, "I'm writing that down." That was a good
one. The second big implication. First, you cannot claim to love Christ if you don't love His church. Love Christ, love His church. Second, Philemon's life and activity and labor for the church shows us the normal pattern for Christians within the church. Verse six and seven show this. Philemon was not just a spectator, attender, or member of the church. He was involved in the lives of people. How? He is used. The hearts of the saints have been refreshed through you.
You don't get that commendation unless God has used you in the lives of people in countless ways, that you are intimately involved in very difficult and very good situations. This is the normal pattern for all Christians. It ought to be the normal pattern for all Christians. 'Cause if you aren't helping other people follow Jesus in the church you've been put in, what does it mean then for you to follow Jesus? If we're not helping others follow Jesus, I don't know what people mean when they say they're following Jesus.
To me, that seems too much of an individualistic pursuit. Why do people go to church? Right? Just right from the very beginning, why are you here? Think church is just about what you can get out of it? Is it just about how a pastor or another leader can meet your needs, or how a worship leader always picks the songs that you enjoy, or the Bible studies tend to cater to your favorite topics, or the youth program is best for your kids? I hope those aren't the reasons.
The best reason is to help others follow Jesus as we follow Jesus. This is why, part of the huge reason we gather together, and why we can't all just be barnacles on the bottom of this boat. Now, if you're a barnacle, don't be afraid. We love you, but we're not gonna settle for you remaining a barnacle. We're gonna scrape you off that thing, and we're gonna put you in our hand, and put you up on deck, and put you to work, 'cause that's what we're supposed to be doing.
We're in the church not to settle down and get all comfortable. We are put in the church to get to work with the church, for the church, in the city that the world or the church has been placed in. In this sense, I want sunrise. My desire for sunrise, the elders' desire for sunrise, is for verse seven to be true of us to one another, and to be true of us to the city that we live in. That we together are like water to a weary soul. That we're that to each other.
That when we're weary, we can come to each other, and we can receive refreshment, encouragement, sustenance to carry on and keep going. That's how a congregation thrives in its life together and in the community that it has been placed within. We certainly don't have all the details of the ins and outs of the situation going on between Philemon and Onesimus, but it's crystal clear that Philemon's life has been radically changed because of gospel grace. He now exists and sees his life as one in service to his master, the Lord Jesus, and he then shows that by ministering to others in his own home. This is where the church of Colossae meets, in his living room.
This is what the gospel does. Philemon, in and of himself, is not refreshing. He's a sinner. He's not refreshing. He didn't pop out of the womb a refreshment. He popped out a wretched, depraved thing. Made in God's image, yes, but so marred that everything good is bent and crooked in the wrong direction. Grace has straightened a lot of him out, and he is now, who was once a sinner, a great refreshment to others. This is the thing I think that I desire most to be refreshing about us, is the gospel.
It's not that we are so refreshing in and of ourselves, but that we are just channels through which people can come to grow in the Lord. The gospel flowing into us, flowing out of us. Amen. Like that great quote from Count Zinzendorf, "Preach the gospel, die, and be forgotten." This is Philemon's heartbeat right here, and it ought to be something of ours also. Remember, as we end, the name I asked you to hold onto at the beginning, Onesimus, useful.
Over these next four weeks, we're going to watch how a useless runaway becomes, by grace alone, exactly what his name means, useful. So see it, church. What Paul is doing for Onesimus with Philemon, the runaway slave with master, is a small picture of what Christ has done with us before the Father. We're all Onesimus. Every one of us was once useless, and grace has changed us and is remaking us into useful people ever since. This happened to Philemon, and that changes how he does life, even with a slave that ran away from him and hurt him deeply.
That's gonna ask a great deal of him, and it asks a great deal of us in how we deal with one another in daily life. Pray with me.
