Introduction to Philemon

Transcript

GR 1661
12/2/2012
Introduction to Philemon
Philemon 1-3
Gil Rugh

I want to do a short study with you in the book of Philemon, a little one chapter book. So if you would turn to the book of Philemon. You know where Philemon is, it’s just after Titus and just before Hebrews. A little one chapter book that is easily overlooked. We have II John, III John, Jude, which are just one chapter in length as well. Philemon joins those. It stands out even though it is often overlooked. It is not heavy in doctrine. It is a letter written by Paul. It is a personal letter and that is what makes it unique. Paul wrote other letters to individuals; I Timothy, II Timothy, Titus but none of those letters are of the personal nature that the letter to Philemon is. In fact I have to say as I work in this letter I am amazed that it survived and how the Lord in His grace preserved it to be part of His Word for us because it is that kind of personal letter that you’d think could have just become part of Philemon’s personal materials and been lost along the way, so it is interesting to me that such a personal letter has been preserved by God to be included as part of our New Testament.

It is part of those groupings of letters we call Paul’s Prison Epistles, particularly talking about his first Roman imprisonment that the end of the book of Acts records. As the book of Acts closes Paul is a prisoner in Rome. We call it that first Roman imprisonment because Paul evidently was released and then sometime subsequent was rearrested and then he writes like II Timothy when he is a prisoner in Rome awaiting his execution.

These prison letters as we know them, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, Philemon and if you have commentaries on the New Testament books you’ll note often Philemon is put together with Colossians. So if you look for commentaries on Philemon you usually look for commentaries on Colossians and Colossians being the larger book they will also include their commentary on Philemon as well. That’s because it was written about the same time as the letter to the Colossians and it’s written to a man who is in Colossae. In fact, it seems probably this letter was carried with the letter to the Colossians to Colossae and you have the letter to the Colossian church broadly then you have this letter addressed to an individual, Philemon at Colossae and part of the church there.

The occasion of the letter: Paul writes on behalf of a man named Onesimus and Paul met Onesimus during his imprisonment evidently in Rome and had the privilege of leading Onesimus to salvation in Jesus Christ and the indication of the letter is that Onesimus was a slave of Philemon and evidently had run away from his master and ended up in Rome, a large city and a place you could somewhat get lost, get absorbed into everything going on there and in the grace of God, God brought him into contact with Paul and he is saved.

Down in verse 10 Paul said: “I appeal to you for my child, Onesimus, whom I have begotten in my imprisonment.” So indication that Onesimus was born again through the ministry of Paul at that Roman imprisonment.
Come back to Acts chapter 28 just for a moment. Paul is a prisoner there, an imprisonment that from its beginning took place over a five year period. Now while he is in Rome and they are told at the end of Acts in verse 30 that he was two full years awaiting a trial there and while there he has certain liberty so he is not imprisoned in a dungeon. He is a Roman citizen who has made by appeal to Caesar for charges brought against him. So he is allowed to live in his own rented quarters which, of course has advantages for Rome as well as Paul. For Rome, they don’t have to pay his bills. I mean he is allowed to live. He would have a Roman soldier with him but in his own quarters which then means people can come and have contact with Paul. He has freedom of ministry so you see in verse 30: “He stayed two full years in his own rented quarters and was welcoming all who came to him preaching the kingdom of God and teaching concerning the Lord Jesus Christ with all openness, unhindered.” In other words, there were no limitations on his opportunity to present the Gospel. Now of course, he is a prisoner and he can’t leave Rome. He can’t travel but as far as the freedom to present the Gospel within the confines that he is kept, he has complete liberty.

We are not told how he came to have contact with Onesimus there in Rome. Maybe somebody brought him to meet Paul. Maybe Paul had had contact with him on a prior occasion because Paul does know Philemon having led Philemon to the Lord on a prior occasion perhaps during the ministry in Asia and Onesimus may have sought out Paul in light of his difficult circumstances. We don’t know.

Come back to Philemon. This whole subject of slavery comes up when you read commentaries on Philemon. Since the indication would be that Philemon had a slave, Onesimus, the whole issue of slavery comes up and sometimes you’ll hear people being critical of the Bible because the Bible was used to support slavery and people have difficulty with the Bible on that occasion. We have to be careful about reading certain of our social situations into the Scripture or back into the Scripture but we want to be open and clear. The Bible does not condemn slavery. It does not promote slavery in particular. It deals with it as a reality in the world and we want to be careful. Come back to the book of Exodus chapter 21. We have two matters, maybe in slavery we will talk about, Jewish slavery provided for within the Mosaic Law and then the slavery of the Greek and Roman world.

Exodus chapter 21 for example talks about slavery in Israel and here within the Mosaic Law provision is made for slavery. The chapter opens up, Exodus 21: “Now these are the ordinances which you are to set before them [before the people]. If you buy a Hebrew slave, he shall serve for six years, but on the seventh he shall go out as a free man without payment. Buy him, paid a price but after six years he is free and he owes you nothing.” You can say, “Okay, you go free but you have to pay me for your freedom.” No, he goes out as a free man without payment. Other restrictions or guidelines: If he comes in alone, he goes out alone, if he has married a wife, then the wife and children and all these guidelines. The principal I want you to note is that God did make provision for slavery even among the Jews. We want to be careful about saying something like that is overtly sinful because that does become an issue then. Why would God provide for it in Israel? We might say, well among the Greeks and the Romans this was something that they did but that was never the will of God because within the law God made provision even for the nation Israel and even for Jews themselves to be slaves to other Jews because verse 2 of Exodus 21 says: “If you buy a Hebrew slave [a Jewish slave] in Israel you bought another Jew who would serve as your slave and there are other provisions. We are not going to take time to go through chapter 21. If you read through you will have a number of those, Leviticus 25 talks about it, a passage in Deuteronomy and so on.

Slavery in and of itself is not wrong. It is regulated. Slaves are to be treated with certain dignity. Slaves have certain responsibility but slavery in and of itself is not promoted, it’s not forbidden. In the New Testament times, obviously, the Jews are in a different situation now. They don’t have the liberty and freedom. They are living under Roman law and in the New Testament world slavery was widely practiced. You have heard some estimates have said as much as 60% of the population of Rome at the time would have been slaves. You could become a slave in a variety of ways. You might be a captive of war. You might have incurred debt and so been sold into slavery. You might have been born to a mother who was a slave and the mother determined that. If your mother was a slave then you were born a slave so some of these things children, they didn’t practice abortion like to we do but they decided if they had a baby they didn’t want they would take it and leave it at the coliseum. Just take that baby and leave it there. It would either die from exposure or slave traders would come by and raise that baby to a point where they could be sold as slaves and it would be a way of making money so a variety of ways that slavery took place.

It was an ugly system. Slavery always is because you have abuses. I mean, obviously, the slave has lost freedom but there were some slaves who were better off than freemen. If you were the slave of a rich and powerful man you had more prestige and influence and a more comfortable life than a very poor free man so it just depended upon the situation but overall slavery is slavery. That means you are owned by someone else and under their authority and under their control.

The New Testament never denounces slavery. It regulates it for believers but never encouraged believers one way or the other that they ought to be doing something. Paul is going to address this with Onesimus. That is why we are talking about it now but he never tells Onesimus he shouldn’t be having slaves. You are a believer. You should move beyond that. That is not the way he approaches it. What the New Testament does is give instructions to slaves, how they ought to function as slaves. It gives instructions to masters how they ought to function as believers who are masters and the point is, whatever your situation you function in a manner that is pleasing to God. We need to be careful then we don’t take the next step and say, “Well to be really pleasing to God they should have let their slaves go,” because that is not where the Scripture goes with it. They are not promoting slavery but we want to be careful we are clear that the Bible doesn’t forbid it. It doesn’t promote it.

Look at a couple passages with me, Ephesians chapter 6. This would have been a letter from the same time period as Colossians and Philemon because it was written during Paul’s Roman imprisonment, Ephesians chapter 6. And you will note often in the context the instructions regarding slaves and masters are given in the context of family instructions, how husbands and wives are to function, how children are to function, parents are to function because slaves were part of the household so they were sometimes listed under household responsibilities because in that sense slaves were part of the household. In fact, one of the categories of slaves and the word used for slaves has the word “house” in it, they are house-slaves because they are associated with the home in that sense.

In Ephesians chapter 6 you will note and the end of chapter 5 talked about husbands and wives you are familiar. Chapter 6 opens up telling children to obey their parents and then fathers aren’t to provoke their children. Then verse 5: “Slaves, be obedient to those who are your masters according to the flesh with fear and trembling in the sincerity of your heart as the Christ.” In other words, they are to give the proper honor to their master because they do it realizing what they are doing they are doing to please Christ. You do it with a genuineness of heart. We’ve talked about in our studies that God is looking at the heart so their service to their physical master is done from a heart committed to pleasing Christ and so when I function as He would have me function I am offering my service to Him. “Not by way of eye service as men pleasers.” In other words, slaves, just like we could have issues today with employers and employees, “ah, the boss is here, everybody get to work.” But he’s not here and we can be you know, more relaxed. Well slaves are that way. You know they knew how there were times they could get by with doing little. That is what Paul is saying: “As a believer who is a slave, you can’t function that way, just to look good when your master is watching.” “Not by way of eye service as men pleasers, but as slaves of Christ doing the will of God from the heart.” This is strong language because some masters could be very unreasonable and you have an unbelieving, ungodly master who is making your life miserable and Paul writes and says here’s how “you ought to function as a slave of Christ doing the will of God from the heart with good will render service as to the Lord, not to men.” That is what lightens the burden. I may be viewed as a slave of a man. I am a slave, as verse 5 said, “according to the flesh.” This man is my master but I know in the reality of it, my true master and Lord is Jesus Christ. I remember the sovereignty of God so I am here in this relationship. I must function in a way in this relationship that pleases Him regardless of how the people physically over me are functioning. “Knowing that whatever good thing each one does; this he will receive back from the Lord whether slave or free.” You have to translate here. A principle, ultimately, we are accountable to the Lord as believers and will be rewarded by Him so here we are slaves. You may think you are working your fingers to the bone as we would say and you are getting very little out of it but just remember, the Lord is going to reward you because this is service offered to Him. And so, keeping before these slaves the reality of their true relationship in Christ but He does have a word to say to masters, “And masters, do the same things to them,” remember, you are functioning under the Lord’s authority. He is your master and you must function in a way that is pleasing to Him. Give up threatening, the meanness, what could be brutality. There is no room for that. “Knowing that both their master and yours is in heaven and there is no partiality with Him.” Understand when you stand before the judgment seat of Christ you won’t be here and the slave here. There is no partiality with Christ. You will both stand before Him as His slaves to give an account so masters, keep that in mind. You are in the position of power. You are in the position of power under the master that you serve and give an account to; so that kind of balanced position. Rather than try to change the social situation and social structure doesn’t mean that believers couldn’t use that opportunity if it comes. But the goal for our life, well boy if we could change this then we could really serve the Lord. Remember, He’s sovereign so you serve Him where you are.

Look at Ephesians, Philippians and Colossians. You realize this is an issue. There are so many people being saved while they are slaves and now they are part of the church at Ephesus, they are part of the church at Colossae. How are they to function? What is expected? You have slaves and masters belonging to the same church. What do you do if one of the slaves is an elder at the church and the master is not? You know we have things that have to be recognized so Paul writes to the Colossians basically the same thing. Chapter 3 and you will note beginning with verse 18, he is talking about wives being subject to your husband. This comes out of “Whatever you do [in verse 17] in word or deed do all in the Name of the Lord Jesus giving thanks.” The same idea as if we had gone back earlier in Ephesians 5 that “You are to be filled with the Spirit” then you live this way. Then “Wives, be subject to your husbands; husbands love your wives; children be obedient to your parents; fathers don’t exasperate your children.”

Verse 22: “Slaves in all things obey those who are your masters on earth, not with external service as those who merely please men, but with sincerity of heart fearing the Lord. Whatever you do, do your work heartily as for the Lord rather than for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance. It is the Lord Christ whom you serve. For he who does wrong will receive the consequences of the wrong which he has done and that without partiality,” transitioning to masters.

You see, to recognize my life, the principle is true for us today. You know, we work at a job, we work for other people, we constantly hear how unfair it is, the rich get richer, the poor get poorer and I’m in this situation. I work hard and I do my best and there, you know, I’m not moving forward, what? Wait a minute. I’m doing this for the Lord. I’m doing this for the Lord. I am storing up my pay for the future, so to speak. I am living for the Lord. We keep life in perspective here. “Masters, grant to your slaves justice and fairness knowing that you too have a master in heaven.” Let’s keep this in perspective. From a physical level, there is a master and a slave but if you are believers, there is the slave, the master and then the ultimate Master and both the physical slave and the physical master are accountable to the One sovereign Master. Now even unbelieving slaves and unbelieving masters will be judged by Christ. Paul’s concern is for believers here and he is writing to believers in the church.

I Timothy chapter 6, I Timothy chapter 6, verse 1: “All who are under the yoke as slaves are to regard their own masters as worthy of all honor so that the Name of God and our doctrine will not be spoken against. Those who have believers as their masters must not be disrespectful to them because they are brethren, but must serve them all the more because those who partake of the benefit are believers and beloved. Teach and preach these things.” You know, easy and we see today, you work for a boss who is a believer you think you ought to get special privileges. He ought to pay us more. He ought to do more. Well, look around. Paul tells the slaves be thankful that God has given you the privilege of doing your work and the one who benefits from your work is a believer who is a master. So the concern of the believers is not to change society. The concern of the believers is to live godly within the society that God places us. We can be thankful that governments change, situations change, things like slavery are removed, we enjoy the liberty we have. Not saying that is not the case but what if God would put us in a situation where we didn’t have the freedom? Well now I can’t serve Him. Now I am bound to this. I am bound to the Lord wherever I am, whatever I am doing is Paul’s principle.

One more, I Peter. Hebrews, James, I Peter and pick this up because of the context. I Peter chapter 2 and the principle, verse 13: “Submit yourself for the Lord’s sake to every human institution.” So as we have talked about, it’s good you are not concerned with what kind of government, good government, bad government, democracy, monarchy, those are not the things. Believers, well, we’ve got to change that. Whenever the human institution we live within, that’s where we are to serve in a godly manner. And then he goes on to talk about verse 18: “Servants, be submissive to your masters with all respect, not only to those who are good and gentle but also to those who are unreasonable.” Here, it becomes the issue. What about when you have an unreasonable master? This isn’t fair, this isn’t right. Well it doesn’t mean that I can’t function the way God would have me function. I can’t control those who have authority over me. I can’t control someone else. All I can determine is that I am going to be the person that God says I must be whatever the situation and what Peter says here, the more difficult the situation, the more evident and clear your testimony is. Verse 19: “For this finds favor [grace], if for the sake of conscience toward God a man bears up under sorrows when suffering unjustly. For what credit is there if, when you sin and are harshly treated, you endure it with patience? But if when you do what is right and suffer for it you patiently endure it, this finds favor with God,” so a principle that is true not only in a slave relationship but in all of our relationships. You say “Well, they are not treating me fairly.” That doesn’t mean we don’t have rights and laws that we can follow but by the same token we ought to be careful that that doesn’t change our attitude, our behavior and so on. So now I am no longer functioning in a way that is pleasing to the Lord. That’s the point. You may be in a situation where those in authority over you are unreasonable. Well this finds favor, verse 19, for the sake of conscience toward God a person bears up under suffering when suffering unjustly. I mean, anybody functions pretty well when they are being treated well and they think they are getting “their fair share and all that.” The point is, we as believers are serving the Lord in whatever situation He chooses to place us. Just jot down I Corinthians 7, verse 21 to 24. We have looked at these before. Paul tells them… Well, let me read it to you, I Corinthians 7, verse 21: “Were you called while a slave? Don’t worry about it. If you are able to become free, rather do that. For he who was called in the Lord while a slave is the Lord’s freed man and he who is called while free is the Lord’s slave.” I mean, that’s the principle. Physical things are not what determine ultimate importance for us. It is our relationship to Christ. You were bought with a price. Don’t become the slaves of men. That doesn’t mean then you shouldn’t, if you were a slave, you should get out of that physical system no matter what it takes. The point is, don’t see yourself as a physical slave. You see yourself as a slave of Christ. Just like Paul when he would be in prison, he’s free in Christ. That’s how he has to see himself, those principles.

Alright, come back to Philemon. All of that on slavery which I know you are aware of but it is amazing how many of the commentaries you’ll read on Philemon for example that are concerned. Some say Paul was just a product of his time. His theology hadn’t developed in this area enough to see the wrongness of this. I mean we are subject to every human institution and if we were in a country as some believers are where they might be in these kinds of situations here’s the principle how to function.

Alright, so Paul is writing in this kind of context. The letter opens up, the first three verses are really what we call the salutation, the greeting where Paul introduces himself, addressed those that he is writing to and gives a word of greeting and then he will be into the letter. He starts out: “Paul, a prisoner of Christ Jesus.” And when he writes that he is a prisoner that is literally but he is a prisoner because of Christ Jesus. Again you will see, Paul won’t belabor or talk about in any detail what the difficulties are of being a prisoner and how unjustly he’s suffered over the last years because they arrested him for false charges and they have limited his freedom and on and on. No, he’s a prisoner of Christ Jesus. I mean, I am a prisoner because of my testimony for Christ and that’s how He has me where He has me. He’s been imprisoned for the Gospel. Look at verse 13: “For whom I wish to keep with me, that in your behalf he might minister to me in my imprisonment for the Gospel.” So in verse 1 he is talking about a literal imprisonment. It is not a metaphor or a picture of being a spiritual prisoner of Christ but he is a prisoner because of his testimony for Christ and he keeps it in proper perspective. This is not out of the will of God for him. It’s not the course that he would have chosen necessarily for himself, it’s the course God chose for him and he does not back away from it.

Back up to Ephesians chapter 3, one of those prison epistles. Ephesians chapter 3, verse 1, Paul writes: “For this reason, I Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus for the sake of you Gentiles.” You see he puts it in perspective; I am a prisoner because of my testimony for Christ so that you Gentiles can hear the Gospel. He is writing to a Gentile church, the church at Ephesus. I am going around preaching the Gospel. Why did I get arrested, because, I am preaching the Gospel. So he sees in the ultimate light this is part of God’s plan and I am now a prisoner at Rome.

In chapter 4, verse 1: “I the prisoner of the Lord implore you to walk in a manner worthy.” He sees that as giving him, if you will, stature in addressing the church. I am privileged to be in prison because of my testimony for Jesus Christ. And it does. When in other countries I talked to pastors who were in prison for 20 years. They had a stature as they addressed us. These are men who speak out of experience. These are men who had a certain authority. They know what it is to stand for Christ. So when Paul says, “I, the prisoner of the Lord implore you,” I mean I am a nobody. I am just a prisoner in Rome, no, I’m a prisoner because of Jesus Christ addressing you. I’m a man committed to the task God has given me.

You know, we don’t like to think of it this way, we talk about it but we like to think that God’s plan for us is otherwise. We want to be used of the Lord. “Oh, Lord, use me, O Lord, I want to be faithful to You. I want to have a strong testimony for You and at the same time we are praying, “But Lord, don’t let any difficulty come into my life. I remember in Acts chapter 9, verses 15 and 16, we won’t turn there for time but Ananias, we read that in our study earlier today for a different reason, was sent to Paul and he was to tell Paul what? “Go,” God says to Ananias, for he is a chosen instrument of mine to bear My Name before the Gentiles and kings and the sons of Israel.” You can stop there and say, wow, Paul is going to be important. He is, but note, “For I will show him how much he must suffer for My Name’s sake.” I want to have a great testimony but not great suffering but often they go together in the plan of God and much of Paul’s ministry is carried out in the context of trial, of difficulty, of suffering.

Come back to 2 Corinthians 11. You knew we were coming here. 2 Corinthians 11 and he goes on and this is a badge of honor for him. Verse 23, “Are they…,” those who opposed Paul, attacked Paul; “Are they servants of Christ? (I speak as if insane) I more so; in far more labors, in far more imprisonments, beaten times without number, often in danger of death. Five times I received from the Jews thirty-nine lashes. Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was stoned, three times I was shipwrecked. I have been on frequent journeys, in dangers from rivers, dangers from robbers, dangers from my countrymen, dangers from the Gentiles, dangers in the city, dangers in the wilderness, dangers on the sea, dangers among false brethren; in labor, in hardship, sleepless nights, hungry, thirsty, without food, cold, exposure…” wouldn’t you love to have been with Paul? I can understand why John Mark decided he was going back home when he traveled with Paul on his first journey. But we look at Paul and we hold him up and say, “What a life, what a testimony. I would like to have a life that impacted others with the Gospel and be a testimony for Christ like that but as soon as trouble comes – “O, Lord, what’s wrong?” It’s part of being used by Him in a fallen world; one more, Galatians, chapter 6. The way Paul puts this. He was beaten by the Jews multiple times, thirty-nine lashes. They went thirty-nine because you know forty is what is allowed but if you went forty-one and he died from it then you were guilty of his death so they always held back one in case somebody miscounted. Then he was “beaten three times with rods,” the Romans, the way they did it. Paul had a lot of scars and when he writes to the Galatians in Galatians chapter 6 verse 17: “From now on, let no one cause trouble for me, for I bear on my body the brand-marks of Jesus.” These are like I have been branded. These are things to be proud of. I got this scar for what? My testimony of Christ. My scars on my back, I got that for my testimony for Christ. These are ways of being identified with Christ. I am not ashamed of that, they are the brand that identify me with Christ so that view of his situation.

Come back to Philemon. Paul is going to use this later as we move along in his testimony and appeal to Philemon. “Paul, a prisoner of Christ Jesus and Timothy, our brother.” Timothy, the brother. Timothy was joined with Paul in the beginning of the letter to the Colossians as well. Timothy, we are familiar, one of the closest associates with Paul. Evidently, the church at Colossae was familiar with Timothy and his ministry. Philemon knows Timothy. There would be no reason to mention him here if Philemon wasn’t well-familiar. We are not told when but we know from Acts chapter 19, verse 22 that Paul spent three years in Ephesus and during part of that time Timothy was with him. In Colossae, Ephesus, Laodicea, these churches in the region we know as Asia Minor, the region today we would have as Turkey so they would have been close enough when Paul centered in Ephesus. Fellow workers went out into the city and Paul would have had contact. That may well have been where he led Philemon to the Lord as we noted in verse 19 when he said: “lest I should mention to you that you owe to me even your own self as well,” which would be an indication why that the debt of gratitude that you owe to me, he tells Philemon, you came to know the Lord through my ministry evidently sometime when Paul was in Asia Minor ministering. So Timothy knew Philemon and Paul sends greetings with him.

Now note, Timothy isn’t joined with Paul in the writing of the letter and when you come to verse 4 and from verse 4 to 24 in every verse, Paul uses the single pronoun, I, me, my so he is not talking about us, we and ours. It is he, personally. Verse 15 doesn’t have that in but the rest of the verses from 4 to 24 do. So you get to the body of the letter then Paul, he is personally writing but Timothy is with him and so Timothy is joined in the greeting, if you will, to Philemon.

Writing to Philemon, our beloved brother and fellow-worker. He is one that Paul loves so Paul knows Philemon fairly well because he speaks of him that he is loved and he is a fellow-worker. The theme of love is going to come up a number of times, down in verse 5 he will talk about “I hear of your love;” verse 7, “I have come to have much joy and comfort in your love;” down in verse 9, “Yet for loves sake I rather appeal to you;” down in verse 16, “No longer as a slave but more than a slave, a beloved brother.” He wants to talk about love. He starts out by telling Philemon he is loved by Paul and beyond that he is a fellow-worker; the word that Paul uses to talk about those that are joined with him in the ministry of the Gospel so this tells us something about Philemon. This is not somebody that Paul led to the Lord and he is just, you know, there, he is someone who Paul can identify as a fellow-worker and Paul uses these expressions to talk about those who were joined with him in the Gospel.

Come back to Romans chapter 16, Romans chapter 16, verse 3. We are familiar with Priscilla and Aquila or Prisca and Aquila. In Romans 16:3: “Greet Prisca and Aquila my fellow-workers in Christ Jesus.” Down in verse 9: “Greet Urbanus our fellow-worker in Christ.” Down in verse 21: “Timothy my fellow-worker greets you.” So you see these expressions that Paul points out. These are those who are joined with me in the ministry of the Gospel. They don’t get the fame and renown that Paul has gotten. God chose to use him in a way that obviously has made him well known but when we get to glory we are going to meet these who were fellow-workers with Paul in the Gospel. 2 Corinthians 8:23, Philippians 2:25; 4:3; Colossians 4:11, I Thessalonians 3:2 all refer to those who were fellow-workers, fellow-workers, fellow-workers. We are reminded the ministry goes on because of the faithfulness of others. Paul is imprisoned in Rome but Philemon is in Colossae and he is one of those that God is using in the ministry of the Gospel there. So it is God’s plan in the church. We are here what? As fellow-workers.

I get known more than most people. People talk about Indian Hills. Oh, is Gil Rugh the pastor there? Now I’ve been here so long someone said to me they had met someone and said they go to Indian Hills and they say, “Oh, is Gil Rugh still there?” I mean you know, you get to the age and I can’t believe he is still there. How old is he? But naturally, people, I may be known more but the ministry is not me. The ministry is us, we are fellow-workers that God has called together to do the work of the ministry.

It is interesting to me, Paul’s close friends are those that are joined with him in ministry and that is the way it happens. As we become more involved in serving the Lord, our life gets built around our service for the Lord more and more. Paul’s close friends weren’t those that he traveled with to the Mediterranean for a vacation, his close friends were those that are joined with him in ministry. They are fellow-workers.

No detail on what Philemon did. Come back to Philemon. Or how he served or worked. Everything we know about Philemon is contained in this letter but Paul has a love for him and a burden that he do the right thing here.

You know, just a note. Paul didn’t see his imprisonment as curtailing his ministry. He is my fellow-worker. It’s not well, he’s able to do the work. I am confined now so I can’t. I mean what is Paul doing in his imprisonment? He is presenting the Gospel. What’s happened? Onesimus got saved. They write to the Philippians and say, boy, this has been a unique opportunity. The household of Caesar has gotten to hear the Gospel because of my chains. We sometimes think, Oh, if I could only get out of this situation then I could be used of the Lord. Wait a minute. Remember the sovereignty. The Lord places us where He wants to use us. It doesn’t mean we can’t change. Be like the slave. If you can become free then fine, do it but if not, don’t think that being a slave keeps you from being the person and the servant God wants you to be.

He is our fellow-worker and he is writing to Apphia. Apphia is evidently Philemon’s wife. The way it is put here, she is called our sister, like Timothy would be called our brother in verse 1. It is not a physical brother, it’s a fellow believer. Paul knows the family. He knows Philemon. He sees Philemon as joined with him in the work of the Gospel. You know this is Philemon’s wife, Apphia. It would be fun to know how this contact came about and how Paul was involved with them and what kind of ministry they had. She is just mentioned here as a fellow-believer and then he also says and to Archippus and most take this as probably their son since he is put in the line of Philemon and Apphia and Archippus, who is our fellow-soldier. Some would take this that he might be the pastor of the church there or have some such ministry. We don’t know.

Come back to Colossians. I said this letter to Philemon was probably carried with the letter to the Colossians; part of the reason for that, while you are in Colossians, chapter 4, verse 8. We are breaking into this. He is talking about Tychicus who is going to be bringing the letter that he has just written to the Colossians. But note verse 9: “And with him Onesimus, our faithful and beloved brother, who is one of your number;” so from the church at Colossae. Then you come down to verse 17: “Say to Archippus, [that’s the man we have just seen, Paul addresses in the beginning of the letter to Philemon] tell him to ‘Take heed to the ministry which you have received in the Lord, that you may fulfill it.’” Some would say that he may have been the leader in the church at Colossae; a special exhortation to him to be sure to fulfill the ministry that God has entrusted to him.

At any rate, you come back to Philemon, verse 2: He’s “Archippus our fellow-soldier.” This indicates he plays an important part in the work of the ministry. Paul called Epaphroditus a “fellow-soldier” in Philippians 2:25. He’s to fulfill his ministry. He’s a fellow-soldier so he is obviously key. He may be the son of Philemon and Apphia and is carrying on a very important part in the ministry and then he says to the church in “your house.” So evidently who would relate to the church at Colossae since that seems to be the setting here. Common the churches met in homes. Where else are they going to meet? The early church in Jerusalem met in Solomon’s Portico there at the temple; that open meeting areas in that area of the temple complex but the early church met in homes. It wasn’t until the third century that we find special buildings being constructed. A number of places they are referred to churches meeting in homes. Again, we are not going to take the time to… but in Romans chapter 16, verse 3, 5, 23; 1 Corinthians 16, 19; Colossians 4:15 they just mention that. It is a normal thing. Church meets in your house.

We have today what is called the house church movement. I got a newsletter from a man who is a promoter of house churches and that gets us back to the Biblical way of doing things. There is nothing in the Scripture that says anything we ought to meet in a home or not meet in a home. I don’t have any problem with people that have their church meet in a home. It is not a more Biblical way to do things, it is the way they did it then. It just makes things trivial. Well there are advantages in meeting in a home and it is more intimate and it’s more close. The early church at Jerusalem had to meet in Solomon’s Portico because with 3000 members it was hard to get in a house. I think we make issues of non-things and these kinds of things become crucial to some people. This man writes. He has written a book on house churches and a newsletter. Talks about the advantage of house churches and wait a minute. That’s not where the Scripture puts the emphasis. It is on the person and work of Christ and the truth that has been entrusted to us in His Word. But they met in homes. Some homes could be sizeable.

Here’s Philemon who has a church meets in his home. We don’t know what his home was like. He’s wealthy enough to have slaves. He might have had a large work area for whatever business he conducted that he could have had his slaves set up and use for a house church. We don’t know how many people came to his house. What kind of place did he have? We are just not told. I would think we would be surprised if we visited around to these churches that Paul writes to, the size. We think well, that’s all there was there? I would have thought they would have a bigger group. Most of them probably could have fit in a house. Some homes would be larger. There were some people who were wealthy, well to do. Priscilla and Aquila; I have mentioned a couple of times at different places that the church meets in their home and they evidently did well in their business and perhaps had the space to accommodate people, we don’t know but the church meets in their house. So you see something of their commitment to the Gospel because this obviously identifies them even more clearly and they are committed to the service of the Lord.

So he is writing to the church in your house. But it is a very personal letter so he has mentioned Philemon. He has mentioned Apphia. He has mentioned Archippus which are probably family members and then to says, “And to the church in your house.” He is going to give the greeting. And then when he picks up in verse 4 as we noted, he is going to address it singularly and in verse 4 down through I think it is verse 23, he uses the singular “you” consistently in all the verses. You know in Greek and other languages you have a singular form for “you” and a plural form. We have “you” in the context determines if I say you know, we will see you in the family center I mean all of you. We don’t have a plural “you,” but in Greek as Paul wrote this they had a plural “you” but he uses the singular “you.” Verse 4: “I thank my God always, making mention of you [singular].” So this is addressed to Philemon personally and the bulk of the letter here concerns Philemon. Did Philemon read it to the church? Well you can decide after we read it whether, you know, he took it as an encouragement and he would be happy to do what Paul is appealing to him to do and wants to share the good news regarding Onesimus and so on and read it to the church, we don’t know. But, it is going to be a personal appeal. He asks for them, grace to you. He is desirous of God giving grace to them. That refers to God’s provision for all areas of their lives. Grace to you, may God give you His grace for every circumstance, every situation, every need. Paul knew what it was like. In 2 Corinthians chapter 12 in Paul’s difficulty with the messenger of Satan, a “thorn in the flesh” that was such a burden to him God said what? “My grace is sufficient for you.” He wants Philemon and the church there and his family to enjoy the sufficiency of God’s grace and God’s peace. “Grace to you and peace,” inner peace, tranquility of heart and mind.

That is what Jesus talks about in John 14:27. Let me just read it to you. “Peace I leave with you. My peace I give to you. Not as the world gives, do I give to you. Let not your heart to troubled, nor let it be afraid.” You know, what a blessing we have to have the peace of God. We have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. We have the peace of God that is to be our portion. “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything with prayer and supplication let your request be made known unto God and the peace of God which surpasses all understanding shall stand guard at your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus,” Philippians chapter 4 says. A heart at peace. A mind at rest, at peace. What a blessing. We have had people of all kinds. They are in knots on the inside, they are taking pills to try to settle down. God brings peace to a heart and mind. “There is no peace, says my God to the wicked,” but for us as God’s people we have peace. Oh, look at the world around us. We are in a situation. You know what’s going on in our family, you know what’s going on with my parents, you know what’s going on with my kids, you know what’s going on with my job and you tell me, “have peace.” Yes, because God has it all under control. Want to talk about that? He’s sovereign. He causes all things to work together for good to those who belong to Him. Jesus said, “I leave you with peace. Don’t let your heart be troubled. Don’t be afraid. Don’t be anxious for anything.” Turn it over to the Lord. “Cast all your burdens upon Him,” Peter wrote. Why, “He cares for you.” Literally, cast all your cares upon Him because He cares for you. I mean, peace, what a blessing.

You turn on the news, you read the paper; you go through everything. I think wait a minute, I can have peace. But what about the situation that is going on – I can have peace. God is in control. I don’t know what is going to happen in our home. I don’t know what is going to happen. God does. Don’t worry about it. That doesn’t mean we are indifferent, careless but I don’t have to worry about it, I’m at peace. It comes from God, our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, another indication of the deity of Christ in passages like this. Would you say, “Grace and peace to you from God our Father and Gil Rugh? Hardly, I mean, that makes no sense. I can’t give you peace. Only God can give peace to the heart and mind and He does that with His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ.

A couple of things I noted: God uses us, even in very unpleasant situations. I mean, Paul is in prison but he is writing and being used of the Lord where he is. He uses us in ministry with other people and to other people. He brought us together for that. We are workers together and that is a blessing that God has given us. And God provides for our every need.

So Paul is going to make an appeal to Philemon. He is burdened for this. This is a serious matter for Paul. He writes this whole letter to ask a favor of Philemon. At the same time, he encourages him because it is the right thing for him to do. It is an interesting letter and a reminder of God’s grace at work in every circumstance.

Let’s pray together. Thank you Lord, for Your goodness. Thank You for this little letter, a personal letter that reveals a different side of Paul. The way You used him. The way he confronted situations, the burdens he had, Your grace at work. Lord, we are in awe of Your sovereignty that a slave comes in contact with Paul in prison in Rome and becomes a child of God through faith. Paul has contact with the family. You are using all of this for Your purposes. How blessed we are. Thank You, Lord that you provide the grace that is our sufficiency, Your peace to characterize our hearts and minds in the most trying and pressing of circumstances and situations. May these truths encourage our hearts even as we serve You in the days of the week before us we pray, in Christ’s name, amen.