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May, 1944
times and you are no better. But this time I am wiping the thing o ff the charge sheet. You are free—you are forgiven.” With surprised relief the man flung his face into his hands, and with heav ing shoulders he left the court. From that day he was a different man. Is this not a brief picture of the man who experiences the forgiveness of sins through Christ Jesus? This is what creates new men!—Adapted from One Thousand and One Illustra tions for Pulpit and Platform, Three Friends of Jesus P hilemon MEMORY VERSE: "I pray to God ...th a t ye should do that which is honest” (2^Cor. 13:7). AIM: To teach that a true friend will forgive. APPROACH: Mother received a let ter f r o m her soldier son. “When Sergeant Joe Wil- H I US r * 8 9 $ 2 ®V l i a m s c o m e s , please treat him as you would me, if I could come. He and I are good friends.” A n d w h a t a This morning, we shall talk about another letter—one that Paul wrote long ago. It was addressed to a man named Philemon, and Paul said to him, “I want you to receive my friend Onesimus, in the same way that you would receive me.” & ft _____ 5 -Division LESSON STORY: Paul, as we know, was a missionary, going from place to place telling others about the Lord Jesus. Now he was an old man, liv ing in prison because people who did not love Jesus had puihim there. H e ’ could not get out to see Philemon, so he wrote him a letter. Philemon was a friend whom Paul had met on one of his missionary trips. In his letter to him, Paul Calls Him “ our dearly beloved, and fellow laborer” (v. 1). Paul spoke, too, of Philemon’s love and faith, and of his kindness to the Lord’s people (vs. 5-7). They loved each other. Paul wrote to Philemon about Onesi mus. This young man had been Phile mon’s servant, but he had not been a good servant and he had run away. While he was gone, he met Paul and heard from him about the Lord Jesus. Onesimus was sorry for the wrong he had done. He wanted to "do that which is honest” (Memory Verse), and he received the Saviour into his heart. Then, right away, he asked to go back to the old home to be a good servant there! Because he had been such a bad boy, Philemon was not sure he wanted him again. Paul’s letter explained that welcome Sergeant W i l l i a m s r e ceived!
3. Faith In Christ levels all distinc tions between men. To some it may seem a very trivial thing that caused this Epistle to have a place in the sacred canon. The mere matter of re turning a' slave to his master seems hardly of sufficient moment to cause a book of the Bible to be devoted to it. But the Spirit of God had a definite purpose in it. This letter helps us to see the value of a human soul in God’s sight. It makes no difference how p oor and unfortunate that soul may be. Masters and slaves have ,an equal concern in the heart of God. Possibly some one will say, Why did not Paul definitely denounce slavery? Paul was wise. He knew a better plan. He set forth the principles of equality, of love, of human value, which would in the end outlaw the system of slavery. This letter may rightly be called the original “Emancipation Proclamation.” 4. Finally, the action of Paul in be half of Onesimus beautifully pictures the work of Christ on behalf of sin ners. It was Paul alone who brought the message of salvation to Onesimus, and paved the way for his return to Philemon. So It was Christ alone who came to men in the bondage of sin and brought deliverance. None but He could pay the debt of sin which the sinner had himself incurred, and pro vide a way -back to the Father. As Luther has said, "We are all Onesimi in the Lord.” Golden Text Illustration E phesians 4:32 The Colonel of the regiment, seated with his fellow officers in court-mar tial, looked at the prisoner before him with a frown upon his kindly face. "What to do with you I do not know,” said the Colonel. “You have been charged again and again with drunkenness. You have had punish ment after punishment and yet here you are again!” The Colonel looked around at his brother officers in de spair. “What is to be done?” he asked. “May J examine the record, sir?” inquired a bright young Captain. “I believe I have something to suggest. There is one thing that has never been done to this man. This man has never beqn forgiven.” Turning to the prisoner, the Colonel said, "You have been punished many
not overlook the crime, but made full acknowledgment of the guilt and the need for restoration. Onesimus could not make restitution, but Paul under took to make it for him, assuming all the obligations and pledging himself to discharge all the indebtedness. “Put that on my account” is one word in the Greek, the word, translated “im pute” (cf. Rom. 5:13). Thus righteous ness would be established as Philemon took back his slave without punishing him. All the guilt would be imputed to another, who was acting as a substi tute. This instance beautifully illus trates the doctrine of imputation, by which Jesus Christ stands before the Judge of all the earth, saying, con cerning the guilt of every sinner who trusts in His atonement, “Put that on my a ccou n t...! will repay it." Christ, as the Substitute, fully met and eter nally settled all claims of divine righteousness on Calvary’s cross. m . T he C onfidence of P aul (vs. 20 , 2 1 ) Paul was so sure that he would re ceive Philemon’s assent to his request that he boldly stated his confidence in it. How well he knew both Philemon, and Philemon’s slave! And how gra ciously he dealt with each of them! We are reminded of the grace where with the Lord deals with all those who put their trust in Him. He bore the sins in His own body, and He died in the place and stead of all who will trust in Him (cf. 2 Cor. 5:21; 1 Pet. 2:24). Points and Problems There are some lessons in the story of Onesimus that go to the very heart of Christianity. Four of them are as follows: 1. True conversion results in an effort to right the wrongs of the past. Onesimus had wronged Philemon.- He had been an “unprofitable” servant (v. 11). Paul urged Onesimus to go back and to make amends. He appears ready to go. No converted man can rest satisfied, knowing that there are wrongs he could make right and does not. The conscience will continue to make that man miserable until restitu tion is made. 2. The power of love is greater than the power of commandments. Paul mentions the fact that he might have commanded Philemon to receive Onesi mus kindly (vs. 8 , 9). Paul was Phile mon’s spiritual father (v. 19). Yet Paul says', “for love’s sake I rather beseech thee.” Only the hardest hearts can resist the appeal of love. .It is the greatest force on earth or in heaven. We do not know what hap pened after Philemon received Paul’s letter. But Paul’s message of love l e a d s us to believe that Philemon opened his heart to his prodigal serv ant even as did the father in the para ble of the lost son.
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