20260107 Philemon Wednesday Bible Study Dave Dickmann

I assume we've all read the book, the letter,

and I guess the, Paul's a prisoner, most likely

in Rome, and Onesimus has come to him. Onesimus

was a slave belonging to Philemon, and Paul then

is writing this letter addressing that whole

situation with Philemon, and his argument is

at least, there's at least five things that he

uses to appeal to Philemon to do what Paul wants

him to do. In verse 14, it says that I benefit

in the King James or that I good deed. So Paul

has in mind something is gonna happen here. He

makes his request, what is it in verse 12? Receive

him, and then again in 17, receive him as myself.

So with that, I think that's enough of an introduction

as to what's going on that we're trying to follow

what it is that the Apostle Paul is telling Philemon.

So keep those things in mind, and we'll read

this. Paul, a prisoner of Jesus Christ, and Timothy

our brother, unto Philemon our dearly beloved

and fellow laborer, and to beloved Apphia and

Archippus our fellow soldier, and to the church

in thy house. Grace to you and peace from God

our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. I thank

my God, making mention of thee always in my prayers,

hearing of thy love and faith which thou hast

toward the Lord Jesus and toward all saints,

that the communication of thy faith may become

effectual by the acknowledging of every good

thing which is in you in Christ Jesus. For we

have great joy and consolation in thy love, because

the bowels of the saints are refreshed by thee,

brother. Wherefore, though I might be much bold

in Christ to enjoin thee that which is convenient,

or fitting, yet for love's sake I rather beseech

thee, being such in one as Paul the Aged, and

now also a prisoner of Jesus Christ. I beseech

thee for my son Onesimus, whom I have begotten

in my bonds, which in time past was to thee unprofitable.

but now profitable to thee and to me. Whom I

have sent again, or sent back, thou therefore

receive him that is mine own bowels. Whom I would

have retained with me, that in thy stead he might

have ministered unto me in the bonds of the gospel.

But without thy mind would I do nothing, that

thy benefit should not be as it were of necessity,

but willingly. For perhaps he therefore departed

for a season, that thou shouldst receive him

forever. Not now as a servant, but above a servant,

a brother, beloved, especially to me, but how

much more unto thee, both in the flesh and in

the Lord. If thou count me therefore a partner,

receive him as myself. If he has wronged thee,

or oweeth thee anything, put that on my account.

I, Paul, have written it with my own hand. I

will repay it. Albeit, I do not say to thee how

thou owest unto me even thine own self besides.

Yea, brother, let me have joy of thee in the

Lord. Refresh my bowels in the Lord. Having confidence

in thy obedience, I wrote unto thee, knowing

that thou wilt also do more than I say. But withal,

prepare me also a lodging, for I trust that Through

your prayers I shall be given unto you. There

salute the Epaphras, my fellow prisoner in Christ

Jesus. Marcus, Aristarchus, Demas, Lucas, my

fellow laborers. The grace of our Lord Jesus

Christ be with your spirit, amen. What more can

we say? I mean, it's abundantly clear, right?

What's Paul doing? What's Paul expect Philemon

to do? Now the world would say that the Bible

is an endorsement of slavery and they love to

go to this book of Philemon. Why do they do that?

Because Paul sends them back. And Paul also tells

what? Slaves and masters to be good slaves and

good masters in the Lord. But that's hardly an

endorsement of slavery, and it's a total misunderstanding

of what's going on here in Philemon. Paul does

send Onesimus back, but that is not, that's not,

you can't read that and think that he sent him

back because he was in some kind of, because

of Roman law or any other reason that he would

send him back as a slave. He anticipates something

is going to happen when he sends him back, and

it's not that he will be a slave for the rest

of his life. There's a couple really hard verses

in here that can be confusing. I guess verse

6, how does that fit in there? And then verse

16, we have this, and this is the only place

that Paul uses this term in all of his writings

in the New Testament. He says, but how much more

unto thee above a servant a brother beloved,

both in the flesh and in the Lord? And so we'll

have to decide exactly what Paul's saying there.

Really, if we read this and we understand Paul's...

argument to Philemon properly, it's a reputation

of any kind of a racist idea or any kind of an

idea that slavery is okay in honoring the Lord.

It's true that nowhere in the New Testament is

there a prohibition against slavery, except for

here in Philemon. Even in Philemon, it's not

stated as that. thou shalt not have slaves."

It's not stated that way. There's another relationship

in the New Testament church that is against God's

way. What relationship is that in the church?

These unconverted people come under the sound

of the gospel, they're converted and they're

inside this relationship, but it's not God's

design. What is that relationship? Polygamy.

And nowhere in the New Testament does Paul or

anyone else say, when you become a Christian,

pick the best and get rid of the rust. Now why

would that not honor the Lord? Well put yourself

in that situation. You're one of the rest and

now what? What's been said to you? You married

this man under the premise that what? He's going

to take care of you. He's going to provide for

you everything that he ought to provide. He's

going to provide that not only to you, but to

the rest of his wives. And now he's a Christian.

So now his standard of providing is even higher.

And what's he going to do then? Just kick him

out? So, that wouldn't be a very loving thing.

It also wouldn't be very loving to just take

your slaves and kick them out onto the street

and say you're free. What would they be free

to do most likely? Most of them would be free

to do under that circumstance. Either become

somebody else's slave or more than likely what?

No. Starve and die. Here's your freedom. You'll

have it for a few days until you starve and die

or you can maybe turn to crime. So it's not quite

as simple as it may be if we had slavery here

in the United States today where we turn people

loose and then they were able to get jobs and

support themselves and the government might step

in and take care of them. That wasn't possible

under Roman law, primarily because why? Because

the Romans were a bunch of racists. We have this

group of people that are above all the rest.

We're not going to provide anything for these

less than human slaves. So that may be one of

the reasons why there isn't a prohibition against

it in the New Testament. I think it was something

like 30%. of the Roman population were slaves.

Now that's an incredible number because when

Rome conquered, what happened to every single

person within the territory that was conquered?

They became slaves. They didn't become Roman,

they became slaves. Now that means that if the

average family might have had a slave, maybe

they had a couple slaves. If you were wealthy,

you probably had a whole bunch of them. So inside

the church, who knows what the percentage of

slaves and free men were there in the church?

None of us know. It's not recorded for us. And

I'm just saying that to acknowledge that this

is what was going on. That was the culture at

large. And there is, if you run any history on

slavery, that you'll find that when William Wilberforce,

and eventually here in the states, The arguments

that were laid against slavery were found where?

In the Bible. So the Bible is not silent on the

issue, although it may not be explicit on the

issue, and come right out and say slavery is

prohibited. It's kind of like the U .S. Constitution.

The U .S. Constitution didn't outlaw slavery,

but everything in it argued against the continuation

of slavery. So that when the culture moved to

the place where they were ready to do that, they

found inside the Constitution every argument

and every right and every law that they needed

to outlaw. So, I say all that as an introduction.

So why is Philemon in the Bible? And is it applicable

to us? We don't have slaves. So is that the end

of it? Its use ended when slavery was outlawed

in the United States and it would have a use

maybe some places in Africa and in the Arab world

where they still have slaves, but not here in

the United States because we don't have slaves.

Is that true? You might think that because who's

ever heard somebody teach on the Book of Philemon?

And none of us raise our hands. So why is it

in the canon of the New Testament? And is it

applicable to us today? Well, the answer obviously

is yes. God didn't preserve this letter of Paul's

to Philemon for us if it didn't have some use

for us. And so what are the themes in the book?

You read it. What word or what themes come up

repeatedly throughout the letter? What else Well,

I think that would be in forgiveness you're saying

receiving I guess receiving back So that's part

of forgiveness Okay All right, what else Well

how about it's all about relationship right where

does forgiveness take place In a relationship,

okay, so we can't talk about about forgiveness

outside of a relationship What is it a master

and a slave? What is that? That's a relationship

We have a pastor and his church. What is that?

That's a relationship We have these other people

named in there because there's a relationship

there So whatever is going on here, we ought

to be able to take some application to our relationships

whatever they may be we can probably get some

good help on relationships. So if anybody here

struggles with relationships, then you've come

to the right book. You should get some help.

What about love? Did everybody hear love mentioned

repeatedly? It is interesting. Now what's the

point? Well, but where's the fellowship? In Christ.

Now we have a unique group of people here, right?

And one of the unique things about Believer's

Chapel is that a bunch of us are related by blood.

So raise your hand if you're related to a dickman

by blood. Okay, now that's a bunch of people.

So what is that? Are we at some disadvantage?

Does that make the ministry that goes on here

in church life particularly awkward or does it

make it better? Does it make it easier? Well,

what would the Apostle Paul expect? What he would

say is, that doesn't really matter. What matters

is, are you in Christ? Is that where your fellowship

is? Is that where the equality comes in? Is that

the thing that you see first? If you look out

here and you see family by blood, then you're

looking wrong. I don't know how else to tell

it to you. You're looking wrong. Now I love my

family. My family has done nothing but good for

me in my life. That's true. I look out here and

I'm preaching, I'm not seeing family. And I'm

not treating anybody differently because, or

better because of their family than I would anyone

else. And if I'm doing that, then I'm doing something

wrong. So to me, when I hear people lodge that

as a complaint, or they lodge that as a protest

against, well I don't want to go there because

you guys are all family. Well what kind of church

is it that you want to go to? where people find

their fellowship in something other than Christ?

You're saying that that's more important? That

that diminishes these people here because by

blood they're related? Their fellowship is in

Christ and they're pursuing Christ in their own

lives. And we're here to help them pursue Christ

in their lives and they're here to help me pursue

Christ in my life. We are equal not because we're

family by blood, we're equal because we're in

Christ. So anybody that lodges that complaint

to me, they get more than that, but that's sufficient.

So we're gonna get some help here, and hopefully

that answers that question for us. Now, what

is it to be a racist? What is a racist belief?

We hear that word all the time in our wolf culture

today, but what does it really mean? What does

a racist believe? Foundationally, what does he

believe? Okay, and those races are distinguished

by what? Well, that may be no that's not what

is it? Does a racist think that all races are

equal? Okay, so then what does a racist believe?

Okay, that there is a superior race. Now racism,

we think of it just in terms of black and white,

but the truth of the matter is that what did...

The Jew and the Gentile that's what two separate

entirely races now in the Old Testament. That's

true God's blessing fell on the Jews and everybody

else was outside of that blessing but fundamentally

and genetically Biologically was there anything

about the Jew that was different than the Gentile?

Was he superior because of his genetic makeup

to the Gentile? Okay So That eliminates, then,

any mistreatment of the Gentiles because of a

superior race or genetic code. What about the

Greeks? If you were a Greek, then you were what?

The superior race. What was everybody else? Barbarians.

Now when you think of a barbarian, also in America

with the great pioneer spirit, we might think

kind of highly of a barbarian. Somebody that

just by brute force goes about and makes his

life. But that's not what they meant by it. But

then what about our British ancestors and our

European ancestors? How were they raised? Uniquely

to them. What did they believe? They believed

in something called what? Divine right. Now what

does that tell you? What is this fascination

with royals all about? It still kind of lingers

on today. It's disgusting. It's sickening to

me. Absolutely atrocious. How those things found

their way over here into the hearts of Americans.

But what's at the core of it? What is at the

core of this fascination with the royals? It's

this idea of divine right. Now what is divine

right? What do the royals believe about themselves?

Why are they the kings? Why are they the ruling

class? Because there's something fundamentally

in their genetic code that makes them superior

to all the rest. So the next time you want to

buy into this Love for Princess Diana and all

the rest of the princes and the princesses and

the kings and the queens just be done with it

Be done with it. It's not just goofy stuff. They

really believe it Now I've always revealed to

you the sources that I use in my study so tonight

I forgot to bring my books, but the Trinity Foundation,

Tim Robbins, wrote a most excellent, very short

commentary on Philippians. And then I used my

pulpit commentary by Mu, or not on Philippians,

on Philemon, on Mu about Philemon. So those are

my two. Now if you're not familiar with the Trinity

Foundation, then you should be. And if you're

not familiar with... I wish I would have remembered

it, because I was going to read through the titles

of the various books that they put out. But they

put out it, and they still put out the newsletter.

Is that right? It's still in business. It's an

organization that's worthy of your support. Now,

they're Presbyterians. And so if you're going

to get their stuff, be prepared. They're going

to tell you all about covenant children and the

covenants and all the rest of that. But there's

one thing that they are not afraid to do, and

that's to make lots of people mad. because they're

not afraid or ashamed at all to defend scripture

and they're not afraid to call out error where

it is. They're not afraid at all to demonstrate

in what's going on in the so -called church their

movement towards Catholicism. They call them

out on it. There was one, what was it? A warning

against Pat Robertson or something like that.

Can you imagine in the 80s putting that out?

But that's the Trinity Foundation. And that's

what we need. We need these strong, stalwart

men who are not afraid to be hated. So hopefully

you men here, that's what you aspire to. I'm

willing to be hated by the world because I'm

going to take a stand for Jesus. And if the world

hates me, so be it. But I'm not going to just

sluff anything off. I'm not just going to say

it doesn't really matter. I'm going to say this

matters. And I'm going to take my stand. So we're

going to take our stand here in Philemon, and

we're going to say without any equivocation,

without any hesitancy, and without any room for

misinterpretation, that if you understand the

apostle Paul's argument here in the book of Philemon,

he is destroying any idea that the church is

pro -slavery, or that the New Testament is pro

-slavery, or that slavery doesn't matter. He

is absolutely without question anti -slavery.

All right, let's get into the book. He says,

Paul, a prisoner of Jesus Christ. Now, can anybody

think of any other letter that Paul writes where

he signs his name as a prisoner? No, there's

that one. I won't let you name them all. He doesn't

have any questions. Calling him saying that he's

a prisoner, but he never does he sign his name

Paul a prisoner of Jesus Christ now in these

letters That's like the salutation that would

be like me. I write you a letter, and I would

say regards the prisoner Dave Right out here,

and they just signed it at the beginning of the

letter, so what does that do? Right off the bat.

What's he doing? Why does he do that? Was it

just accidental? Does anybody here think that

was accidental? Does anybody here think he had

a hope list? He could have said apostle. He could

have said the most Jew of any Jew. He could have

said the worst sinner that's ever been converted.

He could have said maybe, you know, he had all

these options and he just kind of boom. Being

a prisoner, being a slave, both kinds of bondage.

Okay. So immediately, right off the bat, he identifies

himself as what? A person that, now was he in,

why was he in prison? Okay, if we had to say

justly or unjustly, where would we put him? Unjustly.

So here's a guy that, not because of anything

that he's done, is in prison. Now why was 99

% or maybe 100 % of the slaves in Rome, why were

they slaves? Was it something that they had done?

It might have been because of who their parents

were. It might have been because they weren't

strong enough to resist the military power of

Rome. But in either case, it wasn't because they

were criminals and now they're slaves. So that's

an immediate, right off the bat, the first thing

that the Apostle Paul does is he reminds Philemon

what? Some people are in chains and it doesn't

have anything to do with anything that they've

done. It's unjust. And that probably would be

enough, wouldn't it? You can't even read the

first line without saying that the New Testament

is not pro -slavery, but okay. A prisoner of

Jesus Christ and Timothy our brother, Antiphilemon

our dearly beloved, and what? Why do you say

that? What does that do? What does that do to

Philemon? Who is in charge of Philemon? Is there

any other authority in his life? instruct Philemon

in the name of Christ, but the authority is from

Christ. And so both Paul and Philemon are what?

They're slaves. They're slaves of Christ. They're

laborers. Again, that's just another close identification

with Onesimus. So the letter is written to who?

One thing about Timothy. What was Timothy? No?

So he was what? He was a half Greek. He was half

Greek and half Jew. And Paul puts him right in

there in the letter. Now it could be because

he's with him. It could have been... for any

number of reasons, but the fact that he puts

this half -Jew, half -Greek guy in the letter,

again, it has to be, it has to remind Philemon

that there is no such thing as a superior race,

that Timothy is not going to come behind anybody

because he's half -Jew and half -Greek. But the

letter is written to Philemon, and then what?

Nobody else sent any of these other people. Apphia,

Archippus, and the church and his house. Why?

Why didn't anybody say that? We don't know anything

about that. We don't know anything about that.

We know very little about Philemon. We know less

about Onesimus. Well, all the letter is written

in what, in what part of, what tense of, or no,

what is it? First, second, or third person, what

are those, Cheryl? Those are tenses. Okay, what

tense? Huh? No. First. First person. And what

is the, what is the pronoun that's used? And

who does he address throughout the letter? You.

So throughout the letter, he's talking to one

specific person. Then why does he include these

other people in there? Okay, so what does that

tell us? It's relevant to us. Why was it relevant

both to Philemon who was the pastor of the church

and to these other two people, whether they're

related to him or not, we don't know, and to

the whole church? Relationship. And what one

person does in a relationship affects everybody

else that's in that relationship. And whatever

Philemon had done, whatever it is that was the

cause of this letter, it was public enough that

Paul was addressing it privately, behind closed

doors, sending sweet little notes here, whispers

in the dark. Let's find a back room where we

can have some privacy. Is that the way he dealt

with it? Why was he dealing with it publicly?

Well, how do we deal with public sins? It's happened

here. I've had to, what? When I was harsh with

somebody or said something I shouldn't have said,

what do I do? How? Publicly. So what does that

tell us? What is Paul instructing us here? Public

sins are dealt with publicly. Private sins we

can deal with privately. But when something is

public, then it needs to be dealt with publicly.

Right? Are we all on that page? So what's going

on here? What do we call this in our modern church?

He shudders to think of any more open letters.

Well, there's discipline going on here, isn't

it? That's really what's going on. Paul is trying

to get Philemon on the right page, right? So

if there's ever been a case for a case study

of church discipline, this is where it is. This

is how you deal with it. This is your expectation

and this is there, you know, there is no There

is no second way or third way or 14 different

options Paul's laying out for us how it works

Now just because Philemon has messed up and it's

going to have to be publicly corrected Does that

reduce the amount of love that Paul has for him?

Does his expectation of Philemon decrease because

he messed up? It doesn't, doesn't. Paul is optimistic

about the future, isn't he? Why? Well, he tells

us why. Grace. Grace to you and peace from God

our Father and our Lord Jesus Christ. God has

made Philemon right in Christ Jesus. He's brought

peace into his life and Paul expects that that

grace and that peace that he has is going to

manifest itself in the right way. That there's

going to be a good outcome here. That Paul is

going to follow the Lord and do things the Lord's

way and so is Philemon and there's going to be

a good outcome to this whole thing. Now if you

don't look that way in the relationships in your

life then you are missing the boat. If you don't

look that way at your own life, then you're missing

the boat. There's no reason for anyone to be

despondent about their future if they're a Christian.

There's all kinds of, you can't think of all

the reasons the world ought to be despondent

about their future. Because a future outside

of Christ is what? It's hard. It's painful. It's

unfulfilling. It leads to despair. It is full

of problems. But the life in Christ, with God

at your side guiding and directing you, fellowshiping

with you, gives you great hope for the future

in this world and certain hope for the world

to come. Paul is filled up with it. He says,

I thank my God, making mention of thee always

in my prayers. And then what's he praying for?

Somebody tell me. What's Paul praying for? We'll

have to skip verse five and go to verse six.

Making mention of thee in my prayers that the

communication of thy faith may become effectual

by the acknowledging of every good thing which

is in you in Christ Jesus. What's he expected?

What does that mean? When you read that? What

does that mean? Is it possible to preach the

gospel? To teach God's Word and not have it accomplished

what God set it out to do. Is God just sitting

up in heaven? Oh, I hope this works. Is that

how it goes? So when the gospel goes forth It

accomplishes whatever it is that God wants it

to accomplish. Every time. What is the usual

thing that happens when the gospel is preached

to a room full of ungodly, unconverted people?

They reject it. That's what they do. But what

does the Word accomplish? Judgment. If you are

going to dedicate your life to the proclamation

of the gospel, what you are doing 90, 95, 99

% of the time is bringing more judgment onto

the hearers. They're going to be judged more

harshly by God in hell because they've heard

the gospel repeatedly. It would be better, in

other words, for a person who was going to go

to hell to lock themselves in a cage somewhere

and never hear the gospel. Their eternity in

hell would be better. But who's going to believe

if the word is not preached? Right? And so, the

other thing that is accomplished when the gospel

is preached is sometimes there's somebody who

is made ready to hear and they embrace Jesus

as their savior. So we preach the gospel without

hesitation, unashamedly, knowing that we're bringing

judgment into the lives of most of the people

that hear it, unless most of the people that

hear are Christians. So Paul's not praying and

asking that the word preach would have the effect

that God wants it to have. That's going to happen.

What's he praying for? Philemon's life to testify

that the grace within him is a marvelous, a miracle,

a wonderful, an amazing thing. And he wants everybody

around him to know that every good thing that

he does comes from where? His superior race?

His superior status as a slave owner? No. That

everything that is good in him comes from Christ

Jesus. He is asking, he's praying God to God

that by Lehman's testimony, his conversation,

his lifestyle, whatever word you want to use

would back up the truth of what he preaches in

his pulpit and what he teaches on the streets.

That's his prayer. Now why is it that he is thankful

for him and mentions him always in his prayer?

What's he heard about him? That's found in verse

5. What does he have? Love and faith. Okay. Towards

who? The Lord. Jesus. And? All the saints. So

he has faith towards the saints. Those of you

that have said it, is that what you think? How

are we going to understand this verse? It's what

it says, right? Hearing of thy love and faith

which thou hast toward the Lord Jesus and towards

all the saints. Do you have a new King James?

What do you have? I assume you have the same

word order as me. And who has a new American

standard? Anybody? What does that say? What's

the word order there? Do you have the same order?

Faith and love towards the Lord Jesus and all

the saints. So why does Paul mention love first?

And who is that love directed towards? Fine,

I'll give it to you. Faith and faith which thou

hast towards the Lord Jesus. Okay, that goes

together. Faith towards the Lord Jesus. Love

towards all the saints. So do we have the two

on the outside and the two on the inside? What's

that called in Hebrew writing? It's a chiasm.

I know my dad's over here, he's having a fit.

But that's how it works. But why did Paul put

love first? That's the question. He could have

said, I love to hear about your faith in the

Lord Jesus and the way that faith manifests itself

in your love towards the saints. He says that

in other places. Why doesn't he say it here?

He just wanted to show his prowess as a Hebrew

poet. His mastery of the Hebrew language and

his ability to bring that Hebrew poetic structure

into the Greek and writing. Is that why? Why

did he put love first? What does Paul anticipate

is going to rule the day in Philemon? Love. You're

doing so good is what he's saying. You're loving

these people. You let the whole church meet in

your house. You sacrificially give of yourself

to teach them, to pastor and to shepherd them.

You love these people. And it's evident in their

lives. Your love is good. It's good for them.

But it's not in this one area, right? That's

why he puts it first. He expects that Philemon

is going to let love rule the day. Is there anything

that we do as Christians? That is outside of

love that pleases the Lord Now that we all say

oh absolutely not But when we say that what what

do we do we condemn ourselves Because who here

can say that they've ever lived a day. Maybe

we could say who's ever lived an hour Maybe we

could say who's ever lived a quarter of an hour

and hasn't done something outside that is motivated

by love. It's easy to say and we all know it

to be true. The question is do we allow that

love to rule our lives the way that we ought

to? Do we allow that to rule our relationships

the way that it ought to? Love should rule the

day. Not my rights. Not my proclivities to be

offended by any slight little thing. Not my desire

for vengeance or to be treated right or to be

acknowledged. But love will rule the day in your

relationship. And if you have relationships that

are struggling, whatever they are, The problem

isn't that nobody has recognized your rights.

And the problem isn't that somebody hasn't acknowledged

their offense. The problem is that love hasn't

ruled the day. So Paul puts that first and foremost,

the thing that I love about you Philemon is your

love for the saints. Let that rule the day. Why

is it that he has love for the saints? Because

he's believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, and he's

been put into the Lord Jesus Christ. And it's

God's love that's been put into him, and it's

God's love that then flows through him to all

these other people. God's love is not complete

when it rests in you. It hasn't accomplished

its purpose. That's the first step on the train

ride to destination. That love comes to you and

it finds its home then in other people. Or it

finds its home back to God. But never just to

you. Never. So that's the answer to Jake's question.

So Paul's saying, I want this to happen. Then

he assures them in verse 7, we have great joy

and consolation in thy love because of the The

vows of the saints are refreshed by thee, brother.

It's been so good for these people. And everybody

here loves to hear the stories, the testimonies.

We love to hear it. Now go on in this other part

of your life. Now he says in verse eight, wherefore,

now what does wherefore mean? It takes three

words, replaces three words, usually. Not always,

but usually. Because of this. which is why. Therefore,

they would be closer. Though I might be much

bold in Christ to enjoin thee that which is fitting,

yet for love's sake, again, there it is, I rather

beseech thee. So, why is it, when you read that,

does that? The Apostle Paul is asserting some

kind of authority, isn't he? I could just tell

you what to do. I could command you, Philemon,

if I wanted to. Now, is that true? Yeah. Okay.

Let's have our view of Paul the Apostle where

it ought to be. Paul could just lay down the

law, and what would Philemon's response be, or

what should it have been? Okay, I'll do it. Is

that going to guarantee that it's going to be

done out of love, though? Is that going to demonstrate

to anybody else that this was done out of love?

And the answer is no. But I could. In Christ.

So where does all of Paul's authority come from?

Christ. Who's the Lord of his church. Who's Paul's

boss. Okay, but he's got to beseech him and the

first thing then that he says beseech or appeal

I'm going to appeal to you in this way as Paul

the old man So what does that mean? What do you

read that? What do you think does everybody have

old man? Well, how's that appeal? Is he just

saying feel sorry for me because I'm old and

decrepit Is that the argument? Do what I want

because I'm so old and I only got a few years

left. Well, what's the argument? That's obviously

not it. No? That would fall the same way as the

authority. It would be akin to him saying, trust

me because I'm old and wise. Just do what I'm

telling you to do. Well, what happens when you

get old? What do you need? And where was Paul's

help coming from? Okay. I'm an old man, finally,

and this young man here, Onesimus, has been helping

me. He's been a great help to me, but what am

I doing? I'm sending him back. The very thing

that I need and is helpful to me, it's been such

a joy to have him here helping me. I'm sending

him back. And then, does everybody have this

in their Bibles? And now also a prisoner of Jesus

Christ. Everybody have now also? So then, what

are those two words? Why are they in there? We've

already heard that Paul's a prisoner. But why

the now also? Well who's the also with, Charlie?

Who else is a slave? Who else is a prisoner?

We've said it all night. Who is it? No. Me? Yeah.

Onesimus? Onesimus. He's also a prisoner with

Onesimus. But then he uses the word now. Why

do you suppose he uses the word now? He's already

said he was a prisoner. Is that just redundant?

He just forgot that he told him earlier and so

now he's reminding him again that now I'm a prisoner.

What does the word now mean? Okay, but he's already

said that he was. What does it anticipate or

what does it leave open as a possibility? Something

different could happen right now. This is what

I am. So late at night I say, now I'm tired.

What is it, what am I thinking though? I'm going

to wake up tomorrow and I'm not going to be tired

anymore. Something has changed within me because

something has happened. Now, if Paul can go from

prisoner to free, who else can go from prisoner

to free? plants the seed directly in Philemon's

mind that just because somebody is something

today doesn't mean that that person is going

to be that same thing tomorrow. Now, where have

we all experienced that? If you're a Christian

today, where have you experienced that? So what

happened in conversion? He went from dead to

alive. He went from a God -hater to a God -lover.

He went from a rebel to a slave. A willing and

eager slave. That's a change. That's a radical

change. And that's the exact change that Paul

is hinting at here in verse 11 when he says,

was to the unprofitable, but now he's profitable.

Now what is it about profitable and unprofitable?

Why does he use that word? How can we not mistake

what Paul is saying there? Are those slightly

different? Those kind of veer off, but they're

pretty close to the same. You can't be one while

you're the other, is that right? You can't be

unprofitable while you're profitable. You can't

be dead while you're alive. Paul's saying something

has happened here and it's completely and radically

different from what it used to be. There's been

a change that's happened in Onesimus. Okay, so

there's his first two appeals. Old man, and he's

a prisoner also, with Onesimus. And he's also

planted in Philemon's mind this idea that just

because a person is a slave today doesn't mean

he has to be a slave tomorrow. But then he uses

what's his next appeal. I beseech thee for my

son Onesimus. Now what's he saying? How is Paul

Onesimus's father? It's from an illegitimate

relationship that he had before he was converted.

Is that what we think? Well, I mean, that's one

option. Come on, what's the obvious answer? His

son in the faith. Okay. It's through Paul's ministry

and declaration of the gospel that Onesimus has

come to know the Lord. And in that sense, then,

the Apostle Paul is his father. imagine then

Paul sending him back now that's true okay just

so we are Paul's not making this up well what's

gonna happen if he sends Onesimus back to Philemon

and Philemon makes him his slave again who's

he made a slave Paul's son Can you imagine that?

Think of the person who preached the gospel when

you finally heard it. And it radically changed

your life. And then imagine having that person's

son and making him your slave to do whatever

you tell him to do whenever you tell him to do

it and exactly how you tell him to do it until

you tell him to stop. That's unthinkable, isn't

it? Would anybody here do that or think that

that's a good idea? But that's exactly what Philemon

is going to have to do when he gets Onesimus

back if he puts him back into servitude. He's

putting Paul's son into servitude. Then the fourth

thing is what? Well when this radical change

happened to Onesimus What happened to Onesimus

and Philemon? Their relationship changed. They're

brothers. So now, you've got this brother, you've

got this relationship with this man that exceeds

any other relationship. Blood, or socioeconomic,

or where, what country, or where are your borders?

None of those things matter as much as are you

in Christ and really that's the only thing that

matters We kind of get okay, I'm just gonna throw

this out there. We'll talk about it next week

We'll finish this up verse 13 whom I would have

retained with me that in my stead He might have

ministered unto me in the bonds of the gospel.

So what's he saying? I would have liked to have

kept him here. He is helpful to me, but I'm not

going to do that. Then in verse 14, he says,

but without thy mind I would do nothing. That

thy benefit, or that the good thing that you're

going to do, would not be of necessity, but willingly.

And then in verse 19, Yes, verse 19, I, Paul,

have written it with my own hands. I will pay

it. Whatever he owes you, I'll pay it. Albeit,

I don't say to thee, how thou oweest me even

thy own self beside. Now, what's he talking about

there? He's finally his father, too. No. Thank

you, though, for being brave and courageous.

I'm with Jake. You're with Jake? Yeah. We don't

know why. What we do know is that Philemon owes

his life to Paul. So in whatever kind of way

it was that the Apostle Paul saved Philemon's

life, he has a right to put upon Philemon this

idea that you owe me. And it's not because he

preaches him the gospel. That's nowhere else.

Is that? Who? Have you ever seen it? Have you

ever heard me say that? People have been converted

to this church. Have you ever heard me say, Liz

Dickman, you owe me your life because you heard

the gospel. Well, Paul's not exerting his, he's

not saying that he's going to do it, but he's

saying that he could. Now the idea is simple

enough. If somebody saves your life and pulls

you out of the river, what are you going to do

for that person? I don't know if you've ever

seen the movie White Christmas. But in that movie,

what? The building falls on the guy and hurts

his shoulder because he's pushing the other guy

out of the way. And the entire rest of the movie

is what? Every time the guy's like, no, we're

not going to do that, the other guy, oh, my shoulder.

OK, fine, then we'll do it. Now that's just the

reality of life, right? Somebody does something

that significant for you in your life, you're

gonna do whatever you can to repay that debt.

And if it comes to, I would be dead if it wasn't

for the action that you took towards me. Then

what is the limit of what you're going to be

willing to help or do for that person? So, the

Apostle Paul is saying, I'm not going to use

that at all. I could. I could use my apostolic

authority. I could remind you that I saved your

life, and I could demand on either one of those

cases that you do what I tell you to do, but

I'm not going to do that. So then, hopefully

that will help you think about what the final

appeal is. and what it is that Paul anticipates

is going to happen when Olesimus goes back. So

think about that this week and come back and

be prepared to talk about it. Next Wednesday

we'll finish this up. And then after this, and

if it doesn't take us all week next week, then

we'll figure something out. We'll see how much

time we have. After we're done with Philemon,

then we're going to do a how should I take notes

on Wednesdays and Sunday mornings. It's been

something that's been bothering me for years.

And I don't know if I've been stubborn against

the Lord, but I'm just going to do it now so

that I can be finally done thinking about it.

I think it will be helpful. So that's the other

thing that you can think about. If you haven't

thought about note taking, like what am I trying

to accomplish? Why am I taking notes? Then you

should think in those terms, and then hopefully

we can get some help. on what it is we're trying

to do when it comes to Wednesday and Sundays.

And then after that, so that'll be two weeks

and then the third week then we're gonna get

into first Samuel, that's the plan. And then

Tim sent out an email. Did everyone get that

email? If you haven't gotten that email, check

your email and make sure that you come prepared

on Sunday for that.