Sermons

Sermon Notes

Please note that these are only notes, not transcripts, and as such are not identical to the recorded sermons. They also contain frequent abbreviations.

Introduction

1. We have seen, beloved, that in this short epistle Paul has made a moving appeal to Philemon, a Xian slave owner in Colosse, to receive back Onesimus, his slave.

   1. O. is a new man by the grace of God, because he has been converted thru the preaching of Paul who is at this time a prisoner in Rome.

   2. Paul wanted to keep Onesimus with him but he stopped himself because he recognizes Ph’s rights as the master of Onesimus. Therefore Paul sends him back.

   3. Paul reminds Ph that God in His good providence and love to Ph, took away Ph’s servant and is now returning him to Ph converted and profitable, a beloved brother.

2. But, just as Paul is closing the section of his epistle where he makes intercession for O, another thought comes to mind. There is the matter of what O has done wrong.

   1. If there is to be true reconciliation between O, a wayward slave, and Ph, an aggrieved master, this too must be addressed.

   2. And Paul addresses it in such a way to satisfy all parties and to draw out of Ph’s heart the willingness to forgive. Consider.

“PAUL’S SATISFACTION OF ONESIMUS’ DEBT”

I. The Debt Owed

II. The Promise Made

III. The Benefit Sought

1. THE DEBT OWED

   1. There is one remaining barrier to complete reconciliation between Ph and O: a debt.

      1. The “if” in verse 18 in not an indication of doubt; there is a debt.

         1. Clearly, as part of his repentance, O has made confession of sin. Not the one who hides his sin, but the one who confesses and forsakes sin finds mercy.

            1. First, O. had wronged Ph. The verb refers to any form of injustice. We can piece together from what we have learned what this “injustice” was. O had been an unprofitable and then a runaway slave. Thus, O had wronged his master in deserting his position of duty, leaving his work undone and leaving Ph and Ph’s household to do what he had not done.

            2. This was to defraud Ph of his rights as a master & owner of O. It had put Ph to considerable inconvenience, had been a poor repayment for Ph’s kindness as a good, Xian master; and had cast a dark cloud over Ph’s reputation in Colosse.

            3. But, there is also the “or oweth thee ought.” This refers almost certainly to theft. Slaves were notorious for stealing (see Tit. 3:9); and it is very likely that O, to finance his trip, stole something valuable from Ph’s house before he left.

         2. The “if” clause is not an expression of doubt, but an expression of tact or discretion. There is no need, since O has confessed his wrongdoing, and Paul, Ph and O know the facts, for Paul to spell out the details of O’s crimes.

            1. Love does not ignore sin completely, but neither does love trumpet abroad the sins of the neighbor. Paul desired to spare O further shame and embarrassment. He has been humbled enough.

            2. What a beautiful practical example of Xian love: how we should deal with sin. We do not parade all the juicy details around the church. Even in church discipline the sin is only announced (after a long period) to the congregation as “a sin against the nth Commandment.

            3. We should not desire, as the saying goes, to rub someone’s nose in it, when they come to admit their sins. In this case, “if he hath wronged thee or oweth thee ought” is sufficient.

      2. But the question of O’s debt remains. How should O’s obligation be addressed?

         1. O cannot simply draw a line under the past and pretend that what he did never happened. That is not the Christian way to deal with sin. Sin must be dealt with or it remains a barrier to true fellowship.

            1. Debts and moral obligations do not simply disappear upon conversion and O must understand this. So there are only three possibilities.

            2. Either O repays what he owes, but this is surely impossible. As a poor slave he has no resources with which to pay. Or someone will pay his debt for him and thus satisfy justice with respect to Ph.

            3. Or the third possibility, the one at which Paul is discretely hinting, is that Ph forgive the debt

         2. Notice a very important principle with regard to debt and forgiveness. Someone always has to pay.

            1. Even if Ph forgives the debt, Ph himself will have to pay. He will have to take the loss himself.

            2. The same with us: you damage your friend’s car. Perhaps he forgives you and says, “Forget about it. It’s OK.” But the fact remains that by forgiving you he removes from you the obligation to pay, but someone pays. Your friend pays, or the insurance company pays. Damage never simply vanishes.

            3. The same is true morally, which is why the words, “I forgive you” are so important. If someone commits a sin against you, by saying “I forgive you,” you are consciously giving up the right of revenge, of bitterness, of treating that person in the light of what he has done, of even mentioning it again. Forgiveness always costs something. And it does with God, too. When God forgives, God Himself pays, but the debt is never unpaid; it never vanishes.

      3. Paul reminds Ph very tactfully that Ph owes a debt to him (“albeit I do not say how thou owest unto me even thine own self besides”).

         1. Spiritually speaking, Ph owes Paul his very life, because Paul (instrumentally) brought Ph to Christ.

            1. We know nothing about the circumstances of Ph’s conversion: perhaps they met in Ephesus, where Ph was on business and where Paul had been very active esp. on his third missionary journey. It appears from Col. 2:1 that Paul had not visited Colosse in person.

            2. But wherever or however it came about, Paul is the instrument through whom Ph received eternal life. Had it not been for the missionary labors of Paul Ph would still be lost.

            3. Paul very gently reminds Ph of that fact as a reason why Ph should thankfully grant his request.

         2. The point Paul is making is simply this. In light of what Paul had given Ph, is O’s debt really such a great burden to have to bear?

            1. When Ph compares the debt to what God has given him in Christ, or even to what new gift God is giving him in the gift of O, will it be worth allowing the small matter of O’s debt to remain a barrier to fellowship?

            2. Paul hopes that when O returns as a profitable newly converted slave, a beloved brother in Christ, Ph will forget all about the debt which O owes him.

            3. Without coming out and saying it, Paul’s aim is that Ph forgive O’s debt freely and without condition and does not exact from O that which O owes. For the sake of love, Ph will take the loss, which is really nothing in comparison to the gain.

   2. But, for all that Paul recognizes Ph’s rights under the law, and he will not trample over Ph’s rights. There is here the principle of restitution in the case of wrongdoing.

      1. Christianity condemns the denial of personal responsibility.

         1. If your sins have consequences, you must face up to those consequences.

            1. Zacchaeus understood this in Luke 19:8. He repented and because his sinful life had included defrauding his neighbor, he understood his calling was to make restitution to his neighbor.

            2. And thus Zacchaeus declared that he would pay back fourfold what he had stolen which was more than the law demanded.

            3. Certainly, if a person comes to X, and has been guilty of crimes, he should confess his crimes to the authorities and he prepared to suffer the consequences. God forgives the guilt of sin, but often consequences remain.

         2. But this is not the same as the Roman Catholic idea of penance. In Roman Catholicism penance is done to make satisfaction to God for what they call the temporal punishment of sin.

            1. Christ, Rome teaches, died to pay the eternal punishment of sin, but temporal punishment remains for the sinner to remove by his own satisfactions.

            2. So when a Roman Catholic confesses sins to a priest he is given forgiveness and with that forgiveness he is assigned penance. The penance pays for his sins. If, at the end of his life, he has not made sufficient payment for sin, he must go to purgatory.

            3. That is a denial of the Gospel of free grace and a denial of the cross of Christ.

      2. The debt which O owed Ph, and which Ph owed Paul and what we owe one another is nothing in comparison to what we owe to God.

         1. We have certain obligations under the law of God which we have not met.

            1. God is our good Creator. To Him we owe everything which we have. And that obligation must come in the form of obedience to God’s Law.

            2. God’s demand is simple but impossible: we must love the Lord with our whole heart, soul, mind and strength; and our neighbor as ourselves.

            3. And God’s demand remains even when we are unable to perform it.

         2. We have wronged God and we owe Him a great debt.

            1. Our first father, Adam, squandered the spiritual riches with which he was created; and, because he represented us, we all enter the world burdened by the guilt of original sin.

            2. Throughout life, we increase debt, by not loving God and the neighbor (sins of omission) & actively hating God and the neighbor (sins of commission).

            3. And, like Onesimus, we have no possibility of ever paying that debt. And yet the debt, like O’s debt, cannot be brushed aside. It must be addressed.

2. THE PROMISE MADE

   1. Rather than leave barrier to fellowship btw O & Ph Paul determines to be surety.

      1. A surety is one who makes himself legally responsible for obligations of another.

         1. That is very clearly the meaning of verses 18-19 (“Put that on mine account … I will repay it”).

            1. The language here is explicitly legal: there is imputation and there is restitution. The same Greek word is translated “impute” in Rom. 5:13 (“sin is not imputed where there is no law”) .

            2. The Greek word translated “repay” is found nowhere else in the NT but the Greek LXX of Exodus 22 the word is used thirteen times and is transl. “restore,” “make restitution,” or “compensate.”

            3. We might wonder where Paul will find the money to make such a repayment, but Paul is willing to go into debt himself, to suffer monetary loss, rather than see Ph and O at enmity with one another. So important was peace in the church to Paul. And to us?

         2. This is an astoundingly generous promise. Paul is willing to become a surety to a poor slave! This was designed to make a deep impression on all concerned. How much did Paul love O, and Ph and desire their peace!

            1. It underlines the genuineness of O’s repentance. Paul is no fool. He would not agree to be a surety for one whom he does not trust, who might run away as soon as the deal is done.

            2. It underlines Paul’s love for O and Ph: We have a saying, “Put your money where your mouth is.” If you are willing to put yourself out for someone, that is a sign of genuine love.

            3. And it is a powerful lesson to Ph himself: will Paul make himself a debtor to Ph for the sake of O, and will Ph then refuse to forgive O? Surely, only a very hardhearted man would take Paul up on this. Philemon will surely refuse to have Paul become his debtor and will rather forgive the debt entirely.

      2. To the promise to be surety for O, Paul adds a solemn oath, to what amounts to promissory note (“I Paul have written it with mine own hand, I will repay it”).

         1. Paul usually wrote by means of an amanuensis but in certain places Paul writes with his own hand to underline the earnestness of his feelings or to assure his readers that the letter is genuine.

            1. An amanuensis is simply one who writes down what another dictates to him. It is similar to a secretary except an amanuensis writes down exactly word for word what a writer dictates.

            2. We have some examples of where Paul takes the pen from the amanuensis: I Cor. 16:21; Gal. 6:11; Col. 4:18 and II Thess. 3:17.

            3. The meaning of verse 19 is very emphatic. “I Paul have written it with my very own hand, the hand which belongs peculiarly to me, my hand.” Thus verse 19 is a promissory note.

         2. That is, of course, if Ph insists on repayment, but Paul is not going to insist on repayment of what Philemon owes him (“I say not …”). The clear inference is, do not exact payment from O.

   2. That use of the Greek word for imputation must bring us higher to a greater debt problem than that of Paul, Ph and O. It reminds us of Christ’s becoming our surety.

      1. Jesus Christ took upon Himself all our legal obligations and responsibilities.

         1. That is why the Son of God became man, the very foundation of the Gospel.

            1. We, God’s people, owe God a debt we cannot pay, and Christ said, “Put that on mine account.” And God did. He imputed our debts to Christ.

            2. That explains Christ’s whole life: it was a life of earning for us the good favor of God and of paying what we owed which we could never pay.

            3. And it was not simply a promissory note which Christ paid: that promissory note was written before the foundation of the world and then the time came for payment to be made. And Christ did not shirk His obligation to pay.

         2. God did not simply brush the debt away. In the Person of His own Son, God paid His own debt. That was the high cost of our salvation.

            1. God’s justice exacted every last farthing from Christ in the form of blood, sweat and tears, terrible suffering and death.

            2. And after the suffering under God’s just and terrible wrath was complete, Christ said, “It is finished.”

            3. And now there is nothing, absolutely nothing, for us to pay. That’s the Gospel of free grace.

      2. That word “impute” must remind Ph of this wonderful grace of God. He will, then, not demand of O that which he cannot pay; he will not refuse to forgive O who has wronged him; and he will not even insist on Paul paying the debt for O.

         1. In response to such love shown on the cross, Ph will be gracious. Paul knows Ph only too well, and is confident of this.

         2. That’s how we must deal with one another: minor irritations we cause one another; minor offences we commit against one another, are nothing compared to what we have done to God and what God has done for us in sending His Son.

3. THE BENEFIT SOUGHT

   1. Paul ends this intercessory part of the epistle (v. 9-20) by asking for benefit from Ph.

      1. Verse 20 is very interesting because Paul chooses the same verb which is the root of the name Onesimus. It is an obvious play on words in Greek.

         1. For this reason, the text is difficult to translate to do justice to the play on words which Paul uses, but it would have been immediately obvious to Ph.

            1. Remember that O means useful or profitable; he had not always lived up to that name but that was the meaning of his name.

            2. “Let me have joy” is literally “let me be profited,” “let me have something useful” or “let me have something profitable.”

            3. By the grace of God and through the instrumentality of Paul, O. the useful or profitable one has become useful or profitable. Now Ph should give something useful to Paul in return.

         2. Let this useful thing or benefit be “in the Lord.”

            1. All three, Paul, Ph and O, are in the Lord. All three are elected in Christ; all three are redeemed by the blood of Christ; and all three are united to Christ by faith. This benefit therefore will be in that sphere, “in the Lord.”

            2. Outside of the Lord, we are all unprofitable or useless. We are of no benefit to God or one another spiritually as long as we are outside Jesus Christ.

            3. But Paul does not want something for himself. All he wants is to see a glorious display of the grace of God at work in the life of Ph as he freely forgives O.

      2. To add dignity to the request, Paul, once again, for the last time, addresses Ph as a dear brother (“yea, brother …”).

         1. This is not only an affectionate greeting to one whose name, Ph, means “affectionate one,” but is also an expression which breathes earnestness. “Yea, brother …” Let it be so, for the sake of our brotherhood in the Lord.

         2. Thus we see how important reconciliation in the church is to the Apostle Paul. He will humble himself, he will pay whatever price is necessary to effect. And we tend to think reconciliation is soppy and only something that wet liberals concern themselves with. Not so with true reconciliation.

   2. Finally, Paul adds, “Refresh my bowels in the Lord.”

      1. Three times in this short epistle Paul has mentioned bowels.

         1. To us, bowels are disgusting parts of the body not mentioned in polite conversation, but in the ancient world the bowels were the seat of one’s deepest and most tender emotions.

            1. In verse 7, Paul commends Ph, “For we have great joy and consolation in thy love because the bowels of the saints are refreshed by thee, brother.” Ph relieves the distresses of God’s people.

            2. In v. 12, Paul expresses deep attachment to O by calling O his bowels, “Whom I have sent again, thou … receive him, which is mine own bowels.”

            3. And now in v. 20, Paul makes a final plea, “refresh my bowels in the Lord.”

         2. To refresh Paul’s bowels, therefore, is to receive O. with kindness. By doing that, Ph will be ministering to Paul’s most tender feelings. Not to do that would be to take a knife and stab Paul through the heart.