It's been really great to be with you.
Jolly good, awfully fine, and terrific.
And we shall remember this visit and this
fellowship till our dying day, or till the
dawn of glory, which is a better way
of putting it.
And what a privilege it's been to meet
all you junior citizens of glory.
Thank God the glory shines before us.
And if this glimpse of love is so
divinely sweet, what will it be, O Lord,
above thy gladdening smile to meet?
The glory shines before us.
Now, thank you very much in the Lord's
name for your kindness to us.
You've taken us foreigners to your hearts as
though we were real Americans, and we're not.
We're just outsiders, and we're real foreigners.
But I tell you what, you've been so
kind to us.
We give you all an open invitation to
come and visit us in England on the
south coast, but please don't come all at
once.
And we give you a nice cup of
English tea, and I'm sure you'll enjoy it
there.
So, we look forward to seeing you over
there sometime, God willing.
And I was reminded of, I forget what
it was that reminded me, something that our
brother Mr. Willie said today.
It reminded me of a certain time in
Hyde Park, London, just where the speaker's corner
is.
You get all kinds of preachers preaching all
kinds of things.
One man used to get up and preach
down with everything that's up, down with everything
that's up.
He was a communist.
And then one day he got gloriously converted
by listening to somebody else preaching the gospel.
And after a week or two he came
back again, and his subject was, up with
everything that's down, up with everything that's down.
Well now, it's just round about speaker's corner
where once the two princes, Prince Edward and
Prince George, when they were boys, went walking
through the park because they wanted to find
something out.
Somebody had told them that every London policeman
under his helmet was as bald as bald
could be.
And they wanted to find this out for
themselves.
They didn't quite know how to go about
it.
So eventually, walking through Hyde Park, they came
across a little Cockney boy.
They're very clever and witty and sharp, you
know, these Cockney boys.
And they called him.
They said, would you like to earn half
a crown?
Now, half a crown is about 40 cents,
I suppose, or less than that, 30 cents.
They haven't got half crowns now, not since
last February.
Would you like to earn half a crown?
So, the little boy said, aye, governor, aye,
governor.
How?
So they said, well now, see that policeman
over there?
We want to know whether he's bald, and
we can't find that out with his helmet
on.
If you can find a way of getting
that off so that we can see whether
he's bald, we'll give you half a crown.
So he said, OK, governor.
So this boy went over to the policeman
and started talking to him.
You know, the London policemen are very kind
and sociable.
They can be a bit tough from time
to time.
But they started talking.
He started talking to this little boy, you
know, and they had a good time of
fellowship together.
Then suddenly, the little boy stopped the conversation
and stooped down and started rubbing his ankle.
So the policeman leaned down and said, what's
the matter, sonny?
And just as he said, what's the matter,
sonny?
The little boy shot up and accidentally, on
purpose, knocked off the helmet of the policeman.
And lo and behold, the two princes were
watching and found out that the policeman was
as bald as a pound of lard.
So, of course, the policeman was wondering what
it was all about.
And he watched what would happen.
And this boy came running over to the
two princes and held out his hand.
So the policeman came up, saw the boy
take something, it was half a crown.
So he went up to them with his
notebook.
Now he says, what is your little game
here, eh?
What is your little game?
You are hindering a policeman in the course
of his duty.
I shall have to take your names.
Now he said to the first one, what
is your name?
He said, Edward.
He said, what do you mean, Edward?
He said, Prince Edward.
He looked at him.
He said, where do you live?
He said, Buckingham Palace.
So he put it down in his notebook.
So he said to the other one, what
is your name?
He said, Prince George.
He said, Prince what?
He said, Prince George.
He said, where do you live?
He said, Buckingham Palace.
And this little boy, you know, he was
looking like this with his eyes open and
his mouth open.
And so the policeman came to him.
And he says, and what is your name?
So he looked at the two princes from
one to the other.
And then he looked up at the policeman.
He says, I, Governor, he says, I'm the
Archbishop of Canterbury.
Well now, it doesn't really matter who we
are really, but because our subject tonight will
show us that God has put it all
on one common platform.
And the sooner we recognize this, the better.
That's one thing I like very much about
your wonderful country.
Not only the palms at the park and
the people there, but the fact that we
are all commoners.
And we're all on one common platform.
And thank God all God's people are one
in Christ.
All one in Christ Jesus.
Believing Jews and believing Gentiles, believing hot-and
-tots and believing Zulus, and believing coloureds and
believing whites and yellows, all one in Christ
Jesus.
And it's good to recognize that.
We shall see that, I trust, in our
portion tonight.
Philemon is the letter from Paul, from God,
through Paul, from Rome, that we are reading
tonight.
And this letter was written to this nobleman
Philemon at Colossae, at the same time as
the letter to Colossae was written.
And it was taken at the same time,
but not by the same men.
Tychicus was taking the letter to the church
at Colossae, and Onetimus was taking this letter,
this private letter, to Philemon about himself.
Paul, a prisoner of Jesus Christ, Timothy, our
brother, and to Philemon, our dearly beloved and
fellow labourer, and to our beloved Atreia, who
was undoubtedly the wife of Philemon, and Archippus,
who was probably the son of both of
them, our fellow soldier Archippus, 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 fellowship
of thy faith may become effectual by the
acknowledging of every good thing which is among
us in Christ Jesus.
For we have great joy and consolation in
thy love, because the hearts of the saints
are refreshed by thee, brother, wherefore though I
might be much bold in Christ to enjoin
you 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 Onetimus, whom I
have begotten in my bonds, who in time
past was to thee unprofitable, but now profitable
to thee and to me.
Whom I have sent again, thou therefore receive
him, that is, mine own heart, whom I
would have retained with me, that in thy
stead he might have ministered unto me in
the bonds of the gospel.
Without thy mind would I do nothing, that
thy benefits should not be as it were
of necessity, but willingly.
For perhaps he therefore departed for a theism,
that thou shouldest receive him for ever, 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, receive him as myself.
If he is wrong to thee, or oweth
thee anything, put that on mine account.
I, Paul, have written it with mine own
hand, I sign it with mine own hand,
I will repay it.
Albeit I do not say to thee how
thou owest unto me even thine own self
besides.
So he evidently led not only Onetimus to
Christ, but Philemon as well.
Yea, brother, let me have joy of thee
in the Lord, refresh my heart in the
Lord.
Having confidence in thy obedience, I wrote unto
thee, knowing that thou wilt do also more
than I say.
But at the same time prepare me also
a lodging, a room that is, for I
trust that through your prayers I shall be
given unto you.
Therefore I salute thee, Epaphras, my fellow prisoner
in Christ Jesus, Marcus Aristarchus, Demas, Lucas, my
fellow labourers.
The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be
with your spirit.
Amen.
May again the Lord have blessed to us
all our reading of Holy Scripture, and now
our meditation on the same.
And so this personal letter to Philemon, Paul's
son in the faith, the nobleman of Colossae,
is a masterpiece of persuasive tact and delicacy.
It is an enduring model of truest Christian
courtesy, and it magnifies the grace of God
in the Apostle Paul.
Now Paul was in prison, as you know.
He wrote to the Christians at Colossae, as
we saw yesterday and today, and he was
asking them to pray for him that he
might get released from prison, that a door
may be opened so that he could preach
the gospel as he wanted to preach it.
But instead of the Lord opening the prison
door, the Lord opened a door for him
to preach the gospel while he was in
prison.
And many of Caesar's guards and courtiers and
soldiers and even slaves heard the word and
were really born again of God's Holy Spirit
through Paul's ministry.
And among this number was a slave called
Onesimus.
And I suppose at this time Onesimus would
not have told the Apostle Paul all his
story.
Paul could see he was a slave, and
whenever he came anywhere near Paul while he
was there chained to that Roman soldier, he
would listen to the word that Paul was
perhaps dictating or preaching to others who came
to see him.
Maybe he would make his task, his menial
tasks in the prison, last a much longer
time while he was in earshot of the
Apostle Paul.
And he loved to hear about Jesus the
Saviour.
One day he returned and said to Paul,
Do you think that I could become a
Christian?
I'm just a poor slave and nothing at
all.
And Paul said, God is no respecter of
persons, and he dies for all men, for
all have sin, and you're included in that,
so I'm very happy to say that Christ
will receive you.
I would imagine they knelt together on the
stone floor of that prison house, and Paul
led this slave, Onesimus, to the Lord Jesus.
Now, Onesimus, it seemed to Paul, grew in
grace very, very rapidly.
He was a slave, but most intelligent.
I've been amazed recently, in some of our
visits to the islands of Bermuda and Bahamas,
at the tremendous intelligence and depth of spiritual
experience and knowledge of the word of some
of our coloured brethren.
And I've learned, and my wife has learned,
to love these coloured brothers and sisters in
Christ for their spiritual knowledge and spiritual ability.
And I sometimes listen to some of these
men worshipping in the worship meeting, and it
puts me to shame, and I have to
confess it.
They're terrific.
And when we think of the way that
Onesimus grew in grace and in the knowledge
of the Lord Jesus Christ, I really think
his testimony would put me, and perhaps others
of us, to shame this evening.
But one day, after some months maybe, I
can imagine Onesimus coming back to Paul when
there was no one there except perhaps the
soldier to whom he was chained, and getting
very close to Paul and saying, I would
like to whisper something in your ear.
Now, of course, he would have to do
this.
It was a confession he was going to
make.
Not that Paul was his father confessor, but
he was very anxious to tell him something
about his past and what he intended to
do in the future.
And it was important he should whisper.
So he got very close to the apostle
Paul and said something like this, I presume,
Listen, Paul, there's something I haven't told you.
You know I'm a slave, but you don't
know that I'm a runaway slave.
I left my master some months ago.
And, of course, in saying so, he knew
that Roman law provided for terrific penalties and
fines and imprisonments and very often death for
runaway slaves.
But he said, I'd like you to know
that I've asked God's forgiveness for my unfaithfulness,
but I would like to go back.
I must leave you, Paul.
I must go back to my old master
and make restitution and put the past wrong
right.
And Paul said, well, now, I would be
very, very sorry to see you go.
Your presence here has been a great comfort
to me.
Indeed, you know I haven't got it very
comfortable here in the prison, but you've made
it much more comfortable to me.
You've helped me such a lot.
I would like you to stay here.
But if that's the right thing to do,
and I'm sure it is, then I'd be
pleased to see you go back to your
old boss and put the past wrong right.
And Paul was very encouraged.
He now knew that this man was born
again by the Holy Spirit because restitution is
a sure sign of the working of the
Holy Ghost in the human heart.
And, of course, if you say the Holy
Spirit of Jesus is in your heart, you
are born again by the Holy Spirit, the
Holy Spirit indwells you and you're not putting
the past wrong right, then I have every
cause to doubt your profession of faith in
Christ.
Is there something between you and your brother?
Between you and your sister?
For the Lord's sake and for your own
testimony's sake, else we will not believe your
testimony that you are a Christian.
Put it right for the glory of God's
name and put it right tonight.
You go round tonight and say, Brother, Sister,
I'm sorry.
And have a weep together on one another's
shoulders and do it tonight.
You go across to that brother before you
leave tonight and shake him by the hand.
Say, Brother, I love you in the Lord
just as much as ever.
And the Lord expects us to do this
as Christian people, show Christian grace.
What do you think he gives us the
all-sufficient grace of Christ for?
To prove sufficient in these occasions when we
are expected to make restitution, but to put
the wrong right and to cover everything by
his grace so that our fellowship is not
hindered.
To show that the Holy Spirit is not
hindered.
Grieve not the Holy Spirit, whereby ye are
feared until the day of redemption.
The Holy Spirit is in your heart, and
listen, the same Holy Spirit is in that
brother's heart and that sister's heart as well.
Make quite sure that Holy Spirit is not
grieved through your disobedience when he calls you
to put things absolutely correctly right in his
sight.
Well now a listener says, that's what I'm
going to do, Paul.
And he whispered this in his ear because
there was this soldier trying to listen, you
know.
And Paul said to him, well now, I'm
very pleased you're going to make restitution and
put the wrong right, and I'm in favour
of that.
But he said, how did you come to
run away from your boss?
Well he said, it happened some time ago,
I worked for a nobleman in Phrygia, and
one day, he had about 36 of us
slaves, and one day he departed to a
city called Ephesus on business.
And we always had an easier time when
he was away, but when he came back,
he made things a bit stricter for us.
But not only so, he seemed to be
different.
He was changed, he was a different kind
of man.
He seemed to be very religious, suddenly turned
religious.
We thought he'd gone mad.
And as a matter of fact, we all
agreed he had gone mad when he opened
the great hall of his home for other
people in the district to come in and
have some religious services in the home.
And I didn't care for this much, and
he meant more work for me, so he
said, I decided to run away.
And of course he said, I took something
for the journey, so I stole something from
him.
And he said, I came here as far
as Rome, and got this job in the
prison.
Well now, Paul said, well that's quite right,
you should go back and put the wrong
right, and the Lord will give you the
grace to do that.
But he said, you didn't tell me your
boss's name.
Now he said, where are you going back
to anyway?
He said, I'm going back to Colossae.
Well Paul said, I've never been there.
But he said, you didn't tell me your
boss's name.
He said, my boss's name is Philemon, the
nobleman of Colossae.
Oh, says Paul, I know Philemon.
I led him to Christ the same way
as I led you to Christ.
You is slave.
He says, I was preaching in the square
at Ephesus, and there was a crowd gathered,
and I saw him drawing near in his
flowing robes.
He stood all the time at the edge
of the crowd, and afterwards he came to
me and inquired about the way of salvation,
and we knelt together upon the side wall,
and I led him to the Lord Jesus.
And that was the time you said he'd
become religious.
No, he received Christ just as you have
recently.
Well, he said, if it's Philemon you're going
back to, he said, I'll give you a
letter.
And he said, I'll write the letter about
you, and I'll ask him to receive you.
This is what I'll say in the letter,
receive him, receive him, receive him, receive him,
receive him.
And that's all that this little letter is
about.
And that is the key phrase, receive him.
He's Onesimus coming with this letter to you
Philemon.
He ran away from you, now you receive
him back again.
And it's a wonderful little letter.
We see something of the heart of Paul,
something of the sincerity of Onesimus, something of
the Christian nobility of the noble men of
Philemon, and Appiah his wife, and so on.
And as I say, it's a masterpiece of
delicacy and persuasive tact.
It's an enduring model of truest Christian courtesy.
As a matter of fact, there are seven
important sides to this letter.
The letter to Philemon has seven special values,
and I'm going to tell you them very
quickly, else we'll never get through to the
receive him part, which is the most important
part tonight.
Perhaps we'll see how the Lord leads.
It, first of all, has a personal value,
as I said.
Much light is thrown upon the character of
the Apostle Paul.
We saw yesterday, I think it was, yes,
yesterday, we saw how very tactful and diplomatic
Paul was when he heard of the error
at Colossae, and was writing, to put it
right, how he graciously and diplomatically approached the
subject, speaking of the glories and of the
firstness, the preeminence, of the Lord Jesus.
And in so doing, he was answering the
problem at Colossae.
And hear how diplomatic he is.
How kind he is.
How persuasive.
And indeed, not only did Onesimus grow in
grace rapidly, but Paul evidently, the once arrogant
Saul of Tartus, has developed in grace tremendously
too.
And thank God the grace of God is
still flowing to you and to me.
Still it flows as fresh as ever from
the Saviour's wounded side, none may perish or
may live for Christ's day, and as grace
sufficient for every vicissitude of our earthly life.
Not only has it a personal value, but
it has an ethical value as well.
There is great sensitiveness seen here as to
what is right and what is wrong.
You notice how they are seen, all of
them, to be determined to do the right
thing, whatever the cost.
For instance, Paul wanted the comfort that Onesimus
could give him in prison, but he said,
I'm going to forego that so that you
can do the right thing.
You remember, Onesimus wanted to stay and learn
more of the Word and of the Saviour
from Paul, but he must return and do
the right thing and make restitution.
And similarly, Philemon was called upon to do
the ethical thing.
So, it has an ethical value and a
providential value, thirdly, too, because God is seen
over and above and behind all the events
as they are happening.
Everything seems to be dust-tailing together for
good and the blessing of people and the
glory of God's name.
You see, when Paul is at Ephesus, Philemon
comes there on business and gets saved and
goes back to Colossae.
And then Paul is locked up in prison
in Rome, and Philemon, slave, leaves Colossae and
comes as far as Rome, gets a job
in the prison, hears the Word, and gets
saved through the same ministry of the Apostle
Paul in that distant part in Rome.
Then Paul is dictating a letter to Tychicus
to take to the saints at Colossae.
And Philemon wants to go back to Colossae.
You couldn't take that long journey on your
own.
But Tychicus is going.
He couldn't have gone on his own.
So, together they go back to Colossae.
And everything's planning together marvellously by God in
his providential care and overruling grace.
All things work together for good to those
who love God, to those who are called
according to Christ Jesus.
I'm glad to see you here tonight.
And you are here in the providential goodness
of God.
And so am I, of course.
And God has blessed me and us tremendously
during this week of fellowship together.
And I trust God has blessed you.
I don't know what blessing God has for
you in particular.
It may be along the line of my
exhortation at the beginning about showing that we've
got the grace of Christ and the spirit
of Christ in our hearts by putting everything
right to the praise and glory of his
name.
I'm sure you've decided to go home and
write that letter.
And make it a beautiful letter.
Send your Christian love.
No matter what he's done to you, what
she's done to you, write the letter tonight
and show a forgiving spirit by the grace
of Christ.
And you'll find that God will overrule all
things for his glory if you're willing to
trust and obey as all these people were
at this time.
It has a great providential value.
It has a practical value as well, fourthly.
We see here the application of the highest
principles to the ordinary and common affairs of
life.
You'll notice that there is exhortation to masters
like Philemon and servants and slaves like Onesimus.
And the general idea is bearing one another's
burdens.
And they all seem to be willing in
a practical way to fulfil the law of
Christ and to love one another, not just
with words but in deed and in truth,
as John says in the third chapter of
his first epistle.
Not only a practical but an evangelistic value
this little letter has as well.
There is an encouragement here to seek the
highest and the lowest for the Lord Jesus
Christ.
It has a good evangelistic value.
I used to be with a pilgrim preacher
some years ago with a man called Moral
Sabine was in the team.
And when we used to go visiting around
the roads and the homes in the morning
after our morning prayer meeting we often used
to make our way to the terraced and
the smaller houses where he would say to
us goodbye.
He said, I'm going to the bigger homes,
to the richer people, to the upper class.
He said, nobody cares for their souls.
And although often he was bit by a
dog he often had the joy of appointing
some of these people to the Lord Jesus.
Here is an encouragement to seek the highest
for Christ as well as the lowest.
There was the nobleman Hylemon and there was
his slave, his unfaithful runaway slave both led
to the Lord by the same evangelist, the
apostle Paul.
Not only so but you'll notice that Hylemon
had the spirit of evangelism too for after
being saved he went home and opened his
home.
Now I mustn't start on that again tonight,
must I?
I don't know why this has come in
so much during this week.
Certainly not premeditated.
But here it is again, something for somebody
once more.
He opened his home for the preaching of
the evangelist.
Think of that.
Thank God for the thousands of homes in
America which are being opened by Christian people
to get their unsaved neighbours under the sound
of the glorious gospel.
It's a great and mighty work.
Pray for this work.
And this man, Hylemon, this woman Athia and
this young fellow Archippus served the Lord in
their own home and got their neighbours in
under the sound of the gospel.
Not only so but Paul was preaching the
gospel in prison, you see.
It has a great evangelistic value, has this.
Not only reaching the highest and the lowest
but reaching them in every way in the
home and in the prison and wherever we
might find ourselves.
And then of course there's the idea of
follow-up and after-care work in evangelism
seen in this letter as well.
The apostle is only too willing to teach
Onesimus more of the word.
He's only too willing to let Onesimus go
back and make restitution and do the right
thing.
And of course only too willing to write
to Hylemon and ask him to do some
follow-up work after this evangelistic success and
blessing as well.
It has a great evangelistic value but it
has a social value as well.
There is a relationship seen here between Christianity
and slavery.
You see, in Christ Jesus there is neither
Jew nor Greek, there is neither master nor
slave, bondman or free.
All are one on one common platform in
Christ Jesus.
The gospel is a great leveller and Christ
is the common, not ordinary, but common in
the best sense of the word, saviour to
all who will believe.
And you remember the word to Hylemon was
receive him not as a servant, as a
slave, but receive him now as a brother.
And in sending his greetings to the church
at Colossae from Onesimus, this is Onesimus a
beloved brother.
So it has a great social value.
What an uplifting thing the gospel is, off
with everything that's down, is our motto always.
And then of course it has a spiritual
value Because there is an analogy here between
this story and the gospel story.
Just as Onesimus was unfaithful and ran away,
and then was found and believed and put
things right, so we, running away from God,
found by God, gloriously saved, and received by
God for another's sake.
You see the apostle is asking Hylemon to
receive him for his own sake, for Paul's
sake.
And I think perhaps there was another word,
we have no scriptural authority for this, it
might have been there was another word from
the saviour to the father when on the
cross he hung.
Because when the dying thief said to him,
took a second look, and said to the
Lord Jesus, Lord remember me, it's always good
to take a second look, because at first
this man cast the same in his teeth
as the people around and reviled him, but
he made a second look, and he saw
in Christ the King, and he owned him
as Lord, and he said, Lord remember me.
Well now it may be that the saviour
immediately turned to the father and said, father
receive him for my sake.
Because immediately he turned to the man and
said, today shalt thou be with me in
paradise.
So the father was going to receive him
for the saviour's sake.
And this is exactly what Paul is saying
to Hylemon, receive this man Onesimus for my
sake.
So Onesimus was unfaithful, he was a slave,
and he was hiding, and yet he was
sought and found by God.
So there is an analogy here between this
story and the gospel story.
It has, seventhly, a spiritual value.
But of course the great message in this
letter is the message that God will receive
us for Christ's sake, and will receive us
in a wonderful way.
And I want us to look at the
scriptures together now very quickly and notice that
when God receives us for Christ's sake, he
receives us willingly.
As Hylemon was requested so to do Onesimus.
See in verse 14, Thy benefits should not
be as it were of necessity, but willingly.
First of all then, God receives us willingly.
I was down in New Zealand some little
while ago and there was a brother who
received me into his home.
And he didn't receive me for his own
sake really, but for his son's sake.
His son had been one of our first
students at Moreland.
He'd come over to England and he'd taken
the course and although he was not at
home when I was down in New Zealand,
his father received me into the home.
I sat at his table, I partook of
his bounty for the sake of his son.
Now God receives us for the sake of
another, for the sake of his son who
died our salvation to gain.
And he receives us willingly for the sake
of another.
Well now, Onesimus of course was willingly returning.
Of his own volition he was going back
to his old master to put things right.
And so Hylemon was being asked in verse
4 to receive him likewise willingly.
You know God will not save us against
our will.
You remember the prodigal son said, I will
arise and go back to my father and
home.
And you remember the Lord Jesus said to
someone, I would have saved you, this is
the people of the city of Jerusalem, I
would have saved you, in other words it
was my will that you should be saved.
But you're not saved, and he spoke of
destruction and judgment coming, because you would not
be saved.
It was not your will to be saved,
but my will to save you.
Even the Almighty Christ could not save them
against their will.
Now this is not only New Testament doctrine,
but it's Old Testament doctrine as well.
In the Old Testament it read, if my
people will, I will.
So you see God in his sovereignty has
given to us a free will.
And God expects us to exercise this, and
turn to him and return to him of
our own volition in answer to the call
and the promptings of his gracious Holy Spirit,
because no man can come except the Father
draw him.
And our salvation is all of the grace
of God.
We're shut up to the grace of God,
it's true.
But as Bengal says, our grace is inoperative
without our will, but our wills are useless
without grace.
So thank God for his matchless grace, the
fact that he willingly receives all those who
willingly return to him as Onesimus was returning
to Philemon.
Now in verse 15 it is not only
willingly, but eternally.
He receives us eternally.
Perhaps he departed for a season that thou
shouldest receive him forever.
Thank God that all those who are received
by God for Christ's sake are received forever,
and he gives to them the gift of
eternal life.
Thank God we're not going to fall away.
Now the Galatians, we read, had fallen from
grace.
They'd not fallen out of grace, just simply
from the blessings of grace, because they were
not continuing in faith in Christ, and they'd
all their need day by day, although they
had started through faith in Christ.
They were bewitched and bewildered because they were
not continuing in the Spirit, and so in
the blessings of God's grace.
Thank God for the eternal security of the
believer eternally.
Maybe you've been away from the Lord for
a little season, so that tonight God should
receive you forever to himself.
Not only willingly and eternally, but in verse
16, fraternally.
Notice, don't receive him now as a servant,
but above a servant, receive him as a
brother beloved.
He's certainly that to me, says the Apostle
Paul, and I'm quite sure if you receive
him, that's what he will be to you,
a beloved brother.
Now you see, Onesimus was a slave.
He said, I don't want you to receive
him as a slave, I want you to
receive him willingly, eternally, and fraternally, as a
brother.
Receive him into the family.
And this is what God does for Christ's
sake.
For all those who come to him, he
makes them children of God through faith in
the Lord Jesus Christ.
To all those that receive him, to them
gives he the authority to become the children
of God.
They are born of God, and born into
his family.
Just like Mephibosheth was brought from the place
of Lodibah, the place of no pasture, into
the king's palace to sit at the king's
table.
And he was lame on both his seats,
yet he became a member of the family
of the king, unworthy though he was.
So he said to Philemon, receive him fraternally,
into the family as a brother.
And then verse 17, receive him by proxy,
if you want to continue the alliteration, or
receive him as myself, which gives the sense
better.
Because the apostle was saying, he is my
son now, he is begotten in my bonds,
in prison here in Rome, and I want
you to receive him as though you were
receiving me.
As a matter of fact, he said, a
little later in the letter, I'm hoping to
come, if they let me out of this
place, and I'll come over and see you,
and I would like you to get a
room ready for me.
Just like the dear friends here at Park
of the Palms got a room for us
when they heard that we were coming.
Now he said, you get a room ready
for me.
But he said, in between times, I'm quite
sure he's saying this, in between times, give
him my room.
Receive him as you would receive myself.
And when God receives us, it is for
the sake of another.
In the person of his Son, we are
as near to God as the Son is
himself.
Indeed, he not only receives us in Christ,
and makes us his own child, that Christ
should be the firstborn of many a brethren,
but he makes us co-heirs with our
Lord Jesus Christ.
There's just no end to our blessing in
God through Christ.
It is eternal.
Inasmuch, said the Lord Jesus, as ye did
it unto the least of one of these
my little ones, ye did it unto me.
And here the Apostle is saying something similar
to Philemon.
You receive him as unto me, as you
would receive myself, and for my sake.
And then the next verse, in verse 18,
he says, receive him forgivingly.
These are the words.
If he's wronged you, or owes you anything,
put that on my account.
Receive him with forgiveness.
Now, of course, Paul was quite sure that
the slave Onesimus had stolen something when he
left for Rome.
Now, all slaves, when they were about to
run away, used to look around, see what
they could take with them, to help them
on their journey wherever they were going.
Similarly, in this case, it's quite evident that
Onesimus had stolen something.
Now, Paul said to Philemon, I want you
to receive him with absolute forgiveness.
And if he's taken anything, don't demand it
of him.
I will pay it back again to you
myself.
Here is my signature.
I, Paul, signed with my own hand, I
will pay the bill.
And so he was to receive him forgivingly,
for another was to pay the bill.
This is exactly what the Lord Jesus said
to the father about you.
That's why you are supposed to forgive others,
you see, because he forgave you.
God, for Christ's sake, has forgiven you.
You see, the Lord Jesus said to the
father about you, he said, if this lady,
this gentleman here, has done anything wrong, father,
if they have sinned in any way through
their lives, if they have told any lies,
or borne false witness, or spread any scandal,
or done anything that's wrong, if they've stolen
anything, taken anything that's not theirs, got something
in the home now that doesn't belong to
them, if they've done anything wrong, father, I
want you, if you will, to forgive them
for my sake.
Receive them forgivingly.
And he said, Lord, father, I will pay
the bill for that lady and that gentleman.
And you know the father took the son
at his word.
And he received it for Christ's sake, and
Christ paid the bill.
And do you know what it cost him
to pay the bill so that you might
be forgiven by God?
It cost him his life.
He paid in his own most precious blood.
And it's shedding at the place called Calvary.
Blessed be his name.
Doesn't it make you bow your head in
worship when you think of the fact that
the Lord Jesus said, I'll pay the bill,
and it cost him so much that God
should receive us to himself with absolute forgiveness?
Doesn't it make you want to make everything
right in your life by the grace of
God so that you should glorify his name
in your body and in your spirit, which
are his?
Well then, verse 21, he says, Receive him
abundantly.
At the end of verse 21, he says,
I know that you will do more than
I say.
So he's giving to him a very broad
hint here to receive him and even do
more than Paul is asking of him, receive
him abundantly.
And when God receives us, for Christ's sake,
he receives us abundantly.
He does more for us than we've ever
conceived.
And he's able to do exceeding abundantly above
all that we ask or think.
I wonder if we look upon God like
that.
In Christ, we have a full salvation.
The blessing is abundant.
Your God is too small.
Ask, and it shall be given unto you.
Speak, and you shall find.
Knock, and it shall be given, opened unto
you.
Let us remember that God is able and
God is almighty.
God has all that we need.
Let us come to him for an abundant
answer for his glory.
And for the final idea, we come back
to verse 11.
He says, I know that in time past
this man called profitable, because onesimus means profitable,
this man who is called profitable was unprofitable
to you.
When he was with you, he didn't live
up to the meaning of his name.
I know that, but I want you to
know that since his conversion, he's been very
profitable to me here in prison at Rome,
and I know now that he's coming back
to you, you receive him, it will be
with profit.
He will live up to the meaning of
his name, onesimus, profitable, and he'll be a
blessing to you.
When God receives us for Christ's sake, it
is for profit all around.
You remember Portia in The Merchant of Venice
is appealing for the showing of mercy, and
she says in the showing of mercy it
is twice blessed, blessed him that gives and
him that takes.
But you know, in coming to God through
Christ, there's loads of blessing, abundant blessing, there's
profit to everybody.
God is glorified.
The savour is exalted.
You're blessed in your own soul, and it's
a good testimony too.
Many shall fear, and shall fear, and trust
in the Lord.
So you see, onesimus means profitable.
He hadn't been profitable.
Now it is you receive him for my
sake, and he'll be profitable to you, as
he has been to me, and live up
to the meaning of his name.
I was preaching at Cape and Ray Conference
Centre.
It's an English castle, which has now turned
into a Christian conference centre and Bible school
in the north of England some few years
ago, and there were a lot of people
there from different countries, and I found that
I had to preach to an English audience,
but in the room through that door there
was a German audience, and in the room
through that door there was a French audience,
and in the room through that door there
was an Italian audience, and in the room
through that door there was a Polish audience,
you see, and at the door, at each
door, there was an interpreter for that language,
you see, so I only just had to
say the sentence once, and then it was
interpreted to the people beyond the doors by
the interpreters into the various languages.
That's certainly much better than giving a sentence
and waiting for it to be translated into
one language, then in another, then, this is
what happened to me once in Nigeria, and
by the time the thing had came back
to me I didn't know what I was
talking about.
I'd forgotten completely.
So this was a very good idea.
But one of those German girls out of
that room there came to me afterwards.
She said, I'd like to tell you that
I haven't been living up to the meaning
of my name and God has convicted me
about that today.
She spoke English in a broken way, and
I said, well, what's your name?
And she told me some German name which
I couldn't remember, and she said, the meaning
of it is entering into another's victory, and
I said, haven't you been doing that?
She said, no, I'm afraid I've been yielding
to temptation.
But she said, by God's grace I will
enter into His victory on the cross as
my victory today.
And I wonder if I can ask you,
I'm not going to ask you, what is
the meaning of your name?
You probably know.
Well, look it up if you don't know
and see if you're living up to the
meaning of your name.
Because Onesimus was not until he met the
Lord, and that made such a difference.
So it should.
Meeting the Lord, having the Spirit of Christ
in your heart should make all the difference
in the world.
You shouldn't be like an ordinary person.
You should be an extraordinary person.
A Christian with the living Spirit of Christ
in your heart.
All the grace of God at your disposal.
He who receives abundance of grace shall reign
in life by One, Jesus Christ.
How extraordinary, how profitable we should be because
we have the spiritual enabling so to be.
And when God receives us for Christ's sake,
then He receives us with profit, and there's
profit and blessing to all.
Now let me close by saying this.
This letter written to Philemon by the Apostle
Paul about Onesimus was given to Onesimus and
he put it in his pocket.
And Onesimus said to Titicus, Titicus, have you
got that letter for the church at Colossae?
He said, yes, I'm ready.
He said, right, we'll go together.
He said goodbye to the Apostle Paul and
together they started on this long, long trek
of about nine hundred miles with a letter
each in their respective pockets.
And sometime afterwards, many weeks afterwards, there was
a certain family in a big house in
Colossae and it was a big home where
they had meetings in the home and there
was the lady of the home sitting in
the window one afternoon and as she suddenly
looked out through the window she saw two
men turning the corner at the end of
the road and coming towards their house and
she shouted out, Philemon, dear, are you there?
There's somebody coming.
And she said, Philemon, I think I know
who one of them is.
They're coming straight towards our house.
Philemon, won't you come and see?
And she said, yes, Philemon, I think I
know And Philemon drew to the window himself.
Yes, he said, do you know who that
is?
That's Tychicus.
And Philemon said to his wife, Athea, you're
quite right, my dear, that's our dear brother
Tychicus.
I'm quite sure he's come all the way
from Rome.
I wonder if he's met our beloved brother,
Paul, and whether he's got a letter for
the church that meets in this home.
We must go to the door, to the
front gate, and welcome him.
Who's the other man with him, said Athea.
I can't see yet, said Philemon.
And as they drew closer and Philemon went
to the front door to open it, she
started looking through the window again.
She said, I think I know who the
other man is.
She says, it's that terrible runaway slave.
It's that unfaithful servant of ours called Onesimus.
I'm sure it is.
Fancy, he's coming back and he's coming back
with Tychicus too.
What in all world has
he got?
Well, he said, I have a letter, a
personal letter from the Apostle Paul.
What?
You've seen the Apostle Paul?
Yes, he said.
I met him in prison at Rome.
I was a servant there in the prison
and just as he led you to Christ,
I remember the time when you came back
from Ephesus and you were a different man.
So he led me to Christ and I'm
a different man too.
Now, he said, I've come back to put
the past wrong right and Philemon calls his
wife, Apphia, come here my dear, this man
has something to say to us and something
to show us.
He says, let me see that letter and
they read it together on the side.
Onesimus, profitable.
Unprofitable to you in the past but now
profitable to me.
If he owes you anything, if he's wronged
you, I will pay the bill, put it
on my account.
Paul, the apostle, he's my son in the
faith, begotten in my bones, just as you
are my son in the faith.
Now receive him as you will receive myself.
Prepare a room for me when I get
out of prison, I'm coming, but in between
times give him my room.
And they look at one another, they don't
say a word to one another.
They know what it's all about and the
grace of God softens their hearts and makes
them do the right thing.
And they walk up together to this one
-time slave of theirs and they give him
a warm welcome.
Brother, oh, come into the house.
Don't go round the back, come into the
front door.
Don't act as a slave now, you are
our brother in Christ.
We are waiting when the apostles come.
But in between times we'll have fellowship with
you and hear your story and all you
have to tell us about him.
Come right inside, sit at the table, let
us bathe your feet too.
Take a drink now and be refreshed.
And they loved him for the sake of
another.
They received him just as they would receive
the apostle Paul and grace had triumphed in
every case.
And I think that's our message tonight, you
know.
The grace of Christ will always triumph.
In Romans chapter 5 you find this, the
grace of God triumphed at the cross, in
verse 8.
The grace of God in Christ triumphs in
the life, verse 17.
And the grace of God in Christ shall
triumph for all eternity, the last birth, verse
25.
My message to you tonight is this, just
as Onesimus grew in grace, just as Saul
of Tarsus was changed by the grace of
God into the dearly beloved brother, the apostle
Paul, just as Philemon in grace received this
unfaithful slave and accepted him as a brother,
so the grace of God, if we give
it a chance, will work in our lives
for the glory of God's name and our
blessing and the blessing of others around us.
Let us pray.
Work on, Lord, in our hearts by thy
spirit.
Teach us what thine all-sufficient grace really
means.
Make the exercise in our hearts and in
our lives We thank thee for the great
love which abounds in the park of the
palms, which is an outward manifestation of thy
grace, and we pray thee for it.
We pray that in every case, in every
sense, in every circumstance, in every family, in
every relationship, the grace of God in Christ
shall triumph and reign in our lives.
So we commend one another to thee, thanking
thee for this week of wonderful fellowship together.
We thank thee for one another.
We commend one another to thee.
We thank thee we're going to meet in
the glory, around the throne of God in
heaven, with our blessed Saviour, to cast our
crowns at his feet, to glorify his name,
to be taken up with him for all
eternity.
What a day of rejoicing that will be
when we all see Jesus, we'll sing and
shout the victory, but until that day, keep
us faithful to thee, cleaving to Christ with
purpose of heart, determined to know nothing among
men, say Jesus Christ and him crucified.
And may the all-sufficient grace of Christ
be with us all.
Amen.