An introduction to Philemon: We are Philemon
Introduction
The letter to Philemon is written to a rich man in Colossae named Philemon, by the Apostle Paul. It’s also written to Apphia who more than likely was Philemon’s wife, Archippus who might have been Philemon’s son and a minister in the Colossian church meeting in Philemon’s house. The letter is also to be read aloud in the Colossian church.
Paul writes a letter to Philemon after meeting Philemon’s slave Onesimus in Rome. Onesimus ran away from his master Philemon, and to make sure he would be able to provide for himself. He might have stolen some money or things, from Philemon. Paul grows quite fond of Philemon, and they develop a friendship. Paul leads Onesimus to Christ, and he becomes a great help to Paul, whilst being imprisoned.
We don’t know how long Onesimus stayed in Rome, but we know that he told Paul that he had ran away from his master.
Philemon and Paul are old friends, Paul led Philemon to the Lord. Since Paul can’t go see Philemon he does the next best think. He Writes him a letter where he intercedes for his friend Philemon.
1.State the point: Forgiveness is hard but it’s possible through Christ!
To forgive someone is one of the hardest things we do as humans, but it’s possible trough Christ. Especially if it’s someone we trust or love, are we able to forgive that. We will have a look at that now.
2.Show it in the text Forgiveness is hard but it’s possible through Christ!
If you open your bibles in Philemon, and have a look at verse 6.
“And I am praying that you will put into action the generosity that comes from your faith as you understand and experience all the good things we have in Christ.”
3.Explain the point Forgiveness is hard but it’s possible through Christ!
Forgiveness is painfully hard and, quite often it is because our pride has been wounded. And just like the Greco-Roman society , we find it exceptionally hard to forgive someone for wounding our pride, I bet Philemon felt that way too. Nevertheless, He was told to forgive those who sinned against him, as we are told to forgive those who sin against us.
Jesus states the importance of forgiveness on multiple occasions.
In Mark 11:25
“But when you are praying, first forgive anyone you are holding a grudge against, so that your Father in heaven will forgive your sins, too.”
In Matt 6:15
“If you forgive those who sin against you, your heavenly Father will forgive you. But if you refuse to forgive others, your Father will not forgive your sins.”
A lot of us even say it ourselves when we get up or when we go to bed, when we pray The LORD’S Prayer. Remember somewhere in the prayer when you get to:
“and forgive us our sins,
as we have forgiven those who sin against us.”
Just think about that for a minute, we actually pray. God forgive my sins, the way I forgive those whom sin against me. We should realize that the way we forgive others, effects how we will be forgiven. It is an eye opener, but it doesn’t make it any easier to forgive. So what do we do then, do we sit down in a lotus position and go aaahmmmm. Do we try to muster up the appropriate amount of forgiveness? No we don’t, we can’t forgive by ourselves. We are sinners, we don’t really want to forgive, we want vengeance. So the ability to forgive was not considered noble in the times of Philemon. And we still see it now, and we hear it as well. If someone is rude to you, how do you react? Do automatically think I forgive you beloved child of God. Or are you more like me, and wish you had been a bit better at thinking on your feet. So that you could either deck them or be really rude back?
You see whether we are Romans, Norwegians, British, and so on. To forgive someone is not attractive, REVENGE on the other hand is. So how do we then forgive those whom sin against us. Well, God has even given us the tools we need to forgive those whom sin against us.
When you become a Christian, you do so because you want to be in Christ. You realize that without Him you are lost, you need Jesus to save you from your sins. Moreover, speaking like a one who has been a Christian for a while, it’s still find it very easy to sin, and I do. However, the thing is that I feel so awful afterwards, sometimes I feel so bad it makes me sick! The guilt and sin that I carry, is too much for me to carry on my own. So I do the only thing I can do, I pray and ask the Lord for forgiveness. After having done this I feel the forgiveness, and I believe that God has forgiven me. Being forgiven is a great feeling, isn’t it? You know when you were younger, and had to walk to and from school every day. Do you remember the books in your backpack weighing you down Ugh! It was so heavy, wasn’t it? Do you remember the feeling of getting in the door and throwing off the backpack. I felt like the weight of the world had been lifted off my shoulders, I still feel like a sinner. Nevertheless, I know that I am a forgiven sinner.
Forgiveness is absolutely one of the good things we’ve been given in Christ. In Ephesians 1:7 we can read that God purchased our freedom with the blood of His Son, and forgave our sins. When we have received such wonderful gift, it’s only right that we repay it. It is required of us.
4.Illustrate the point Forgiveness is hard but it’s possible through Christ!
I know it’s not easy at all, sometimes it takes years to fully forgive someone. I have a friend named Anne, and her mother treated her really, really badly. I won’t go in to details, but it’s the kind of dysfunctional family stuff you see on TV. Anne hadn’t spoken to her mother for many years, and hated her passionately since she ruined her childhood. As Anne and I was talking I asked her if she had spoken to her mother lately, and she said no. I told her that it was important for her to forgive her mother, but if she didn’t want to see her she didn’t have to . She replied that she had forgiven her mother, but it was still hard for her. A few days ago Anne rang me, just to tell me that she had been to she her mother.
Now I have met Anne’s mother and I know that she is a peculiar woman at best, so I asked her how did it go? She told me that it had gone quite well, and that it actually was a nice visit.
The thought of receiving Onesimus as a brother, might not have been what was closest to Philemons heart But as we all now, brothers argue and fight. Sometimes they don’t even like each other. But most of the time brothers do love each other, even though it might take months, even years to fully heal from hurtful things said and done-
5.Apply the point Forgiveness is hard but it’s possible through Christ!
Forgiveness isn’t easy, but the good thing is that we don’t have to do it alone! When we’re in Christ, we have received the costly gift of forgiveness, and The Holy Spirit will compel us to forgive. God will give us the strength, and the will to do it. As I said It’s not something we have to do on our own. A part of putting the generosity that comes from our faith into action, is to forgive. Alexander Pope quite smartly put it like this:
“To err is human; to forgive, divine.”
All we have to do is to pray, and ask for the strength to forgive. I bet Philemon had to do the same. So when a master and a slave see each other as beloved brothers, how long do you think slavery could last?
1.State the point: We’re all slaves, either of Christ or sin
Earthly masters or not, we’re all slaves, either of Christ or sin.
2.Show it in the text: We’re all slaves, either of Christ or sin
When reading trough the letter to Philemon, I counted Paul mentioning his imprisonment five times on average every fifth verse in his letter to Philemon mentions his imprisonment. Just see for yourself:
v1: ”This letter is from Paul, a prisoner for preaching the Good News about Christ Jesus, and from our brother Timothy.”
V9: “But because of our love, I prefer simply to ask you. Consider this as a request from me—Paul, an old man and now also a prisoner for the sake of Christ Jesus.”
V10: “ I appeal to you to show kindness to my child, Onesimus. I became his father in the faith while here in prison.”
V13: “I wanted to keep him here with me while I am in these chains for preaching the Good News, and he would have helped me on your behalf.”
V23: “Epaphras, my fellow prisoner in Christ Jesus, sends you his greetings.”
3.Explain the point: We’re all slaves, either of Christ or sin
Why does Paul go on, and on, and on about being in prison, does he want a fruit basket? By all means he deserves it. But that can’t be why he keeps bringing up his imprisonment. As the other letters in the bible, when something is frequently repeated, it is because it is important. Four out of five times, when he mentions his imprisonments; there is a reference to Jesus or the Gospel (the Good News) about him. Verses 1,9,13,23. Paul tells Philemon that he is in chains for preaching the Good News, and calls himself a prisoner for the sake of Christ Jesus. Because of his faith in Jesus Paul is taken places he does not want to go. He is put entirely at mercy of God, just as a slave is put at the mercy of his master. Paul refers to himself as a slave of Christ many times, e.g. Romans 1:1This letter is from Paul, a slave of Christ Jesus, chosen by God to be an apostle and sent out to preach his Good News.
Pauls letter forced Philemon in to deciding who he was. Was he a slave of sin or a slave of Christ? The way he received Onesimus when he returned would tell Paul, and the church who met in his house that.
We’re either Slaves of Christ or of Sin
So who are we, are we slaves of Christ or is sin our master?
The bible tells us that the wages of sin is death, and that we have all sinned, we’re not anywhere near Gods glorious standard. What does that mean to us, well I won’t say the first thing that comes into mind, but we’re… eh IN TROUBLE. It seems out default setting is to be slave of sin, dead, and nowhere near how God wants us to be. Is that it then… should we all leave right now, and make up a more convenient theology, a theology that has a more relaxed view on sin and death. We could worship Prince Philip… hmmm, no that’s right there’s already someone doing that. Well… I have good news for you.
We don’t have to, we can stick with the real thing. Why drink diet coke, when you can have the real thing?
In John 8:34-6 Jesus says
“I tell you the truth, everyone who sins is a slave of sin. A slave is not a permanent member of the family, but a son is part of the family forever. So if the Son sets you free, you are truly free”
When we become Christians, our chains of sin that we have dragged around with us a lifetime are broken. We turn to Jesus and repent of our sin, we wish to obey God wholeheartedly. We realize that we don’t have to go off and do something stupid, that only hurts us more, and leads into more sin. We see that we are no longer slaves of sin, but of righteous living. The Holy Spirit that that comes into us when we become Christians compels us to lead a righteous life. So as we see God even gives us the tools to lead a righteous life, and to no longer be slaves of sin. We’ve been given everything we need to be slaves of Christ and not of sin. So all we have to do is to turn to Jesus and repent of our sin.
4.Illustrate: We’re all slaves, either of Christ or sin
Did you know that a slave that ran away from their master in ancient Rome, and was caught had a FUG burnt into their forehead and a collar around his neck. Sometimes they collar had some kind of inscription like: “Hey my master is Tyranus Quintus, I have ran away. If you find me, kill me and bring my head back to my master. He will reward you ” Isn’t that what sin does to us? Luckily it most of the time doesn’t behead us but it hurts us. To be a slave of sin is to be at the mercy of the cruellest master there is. Isn’t it better to be the slave of righteous living, the slave of Christ. He who has freed us once and for all, He who takes the collar of around our neck, and breaks our chains of sin.
5.Apply the point: We’re all slaves, either of Christ or sin
As Jesus said:
“I tell you the truth, everyone who sins is a slave of sin. A slave is not a permanent member of the family, but a son is part of the family forever. So if the Son sets you free, you are truly free”
If you don’t want to be a slave of sin anymore, turn to Jesus and repent of your sin. He will set you free, and give you all the tools you need to be a Christian and a slave of Christ.
Conclusion
Point 1: Forgiveness is hard but it’s possible through Christ!
Point 2: We’re all slaves, either of Christ or sin
God has given us tools to forgive each other, and lead a life of righteous living, as a slave of Christ. So all we need to do is to turn to Jesus and repent of our sins.
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