Onesimus: The Story Of A Transformed Slave !

Philemon 1-25  Part 2

 

His name was Onesimus - He was from the city of Colossae –

Z) As far as places go it wasn’t a bad place to live

 

A) Located on the Lycus river it was a city of trade – many new faces coming thru –

 

B) City with a decent population Base – City of industry –

1) Wool was the prominent industry but not the only industry.

 

C) So there was plenty of opportunity in Colossae

1) Problem He was a slave – He belonged to someone else – He was not his own.

 

Now as far as masters went – His master was a good one – He was known as a loving man

A) He actually had a reputation for refreshing the hearts of those who were around him

 

B) His life – blessed others – He was one who had respect and care for people

1) He no doubt was one of those rare masters who treated his slaves well.

 

C) Safe to say that as a master – He was fair and He was kind

So as a slave this Onesimus had it better than most – But still he wasn’t free!

A) That is what He wanted – He wanted to be free!

 

B) So when the opportunity came to run – run He did – He Ran fast and he ran far – ROME

1) In order to survive life on the road – he took what was available – from his masters house.

 

C) Rome was the logical place – It was far / it was big – easy to blend in – easy to get lost in the crowd

1) Rome was the kind of place where there would be lots to do/ lots to explore/ lots to experience{ good/bad

 

D) Rome’s slogan today would be – what happens in Rome – Stays in Rome { Evil place – decadent place

1) The kind of place where a newly freed man would choose to express his new found freedom.

 

Problem: He really wasn’t free – Still bound by the emptiness in his heart – Void in his life

A) This void and emptiness – no matter what the experience always left him longing for more

 

B) He was a slave to lust – a slave to pursuing pleasure/ a slave to trying to overcome the emptiness

1) This slavery was even greater than the one he knew as a slave to his master

 

C) His new master – was self – and self would never be satisfied !

Well we are not exactly sure what happened but it seems that in his pursuits to be free – trouble

A) Ended up in Prison – there that he met a man who was also in Prison – but was radically free

 

B) His name was Paul – Although a Prisoner- Paul was the freest man that Onesimus had ever met –

1) Although that wasn’t always the case – At one time Paul was a slave to religion –

 

C) He was a very religious man – Student of religion – became a religious leader

1) His life was all about ritual and routine – Following rules and regulations

 

2) His life was about studying the law of God

 

D) Things that didn’t bring him any closer to God and did nothing to satisfy the longing in his heart

 

Testimony Romans 7

10 So the good law, which was supposed to show me the way of life, instead gave me the death penalty.

14 The trouble is not with the law but with me, because I am sold into slavery, with sin as my master. 15I don’t understand myself at all, for I really want to do what is right, but I don’t do it. Instead, I do the very thing I hate. 16I know perfectly well that what I am doing is wrong, and my bad conscience shows that I agree that the law is good. 17But I can’t help myself, because it is sin inside me that makes me do these evil things. NLT

 

I am sure that Onesimus could relate – Although his experience took him down a far different path

A) His conscience plagued him as well – He had ran from one form of slavery into another that was worse

 

B) But now He met this man – who although he was in prison – he was perfectly free – He was content

1) He was SATISFIED - His heart was at rest – His life had purpose – All because of Jesus

 

C) Like his master – Onesimus- found this man Paul was a Christian – a follower of Christ –

1) In fact in a weird sort of coincidence – it was this very man Paul who had introduced his master to Christ.

 

D) It was there in that Jail – that Onesimus – gave his life to Christ/ Finally He understood what freedom was

 

You today: What are you pursuing in hopes of finding Freedom { Pleasure / religion / Possessions

                             JESUS

 

Well Onesimus spent some time there with Paul in Prison – He was discipled in the faith from Paul

A) He ended up being a Help to Paul in his ministry there in Prison – in fact Onesimus – blessing to Paul

 

B) But the time came – Paul said – you need to return – you need to go back to Philemon –

1) Letter: …. Charge that to my account

C) So Paul was sending Onesimus back to Philemon a Changed man

1) Onesimus stands as a Picture of a man who had a true Conversion:

 

Mickey Cohen was one of the most infamous gangsters of the fifties, - John Gotti of his day. 

 

On one occasion he visited an evangelistic meeting and there showed an interest in Christ.

 

 Christian leaders, realizing that Cohen’s conversion could have a great influence upon others, visited him regularly.

One night after a lengthy conversation on Revelation 3:20, he “opened the door of his life.” There were great expectations, but as the months passed there was no real change in the gangster’s life.

 

Finally his Christian friends confronted him.

Cohen responded that “no one had told him he would have to give up his work or his friends.

 

After all, there were Christian football players, Christian cowboys, Christian politicians; why not a Christian gangster?

 

This is all too common today – People who “come to Christ” – but there is no real change in their life

 

True conversion is noticeable

 

Redpath VCF

“The Christian life is the replacement of one life by another, it is an exchange of sovereignties: Self is dethroned, Jesus is enthroned. Nobody can pray thy Kingdom come until first he prays – My kingdom go!”

 

Onesimus had that type of Change in his Life

A) I want us today to consider – His conversion – consider the Characteristics that marked his Change

 

B) Taking note – there are three things I want us to consider about the marks of his transformation

 

#1 There was confession:

A) Wait a minute you say: I don’t see that in this story – in fact I can’t see where Onesimus said anything

 

B) True but consider this in v.11 Paul says in the past he was unprofitable to you –

1) NLT Onesimus hasn’t been of much use to you in the past, but now he is very useful to both of us.

 

C) I ask you – how did Paul know that ? He had never been to Colossae – never met Onesimus

1) How would Paul know what kind of slave he was ?

  He might have been Philemons most trusted slave !

 

 

D) He could have been a great worker

1) a slave who was so good – his master trusted him w/ more responsibility

 

2) Which might have explained why he was able to get away. – More opportunity to run

 

So How would Paul know that he wasn’t a very good slave at all – He was useless –

A) I believe it was because – Onesimus told him –

He told his story

 

B) He might have said something – like : My attitude was all wrong – I was a slacker –

1) Only reason I am even alive today is because my master was a good and kind man

 

C) I think it is clear: Paul knew Because Onesimus confessed – He told his story

 

That is one of the first marks in a person who has had a true conversion to Christ – they are real.

A) Especially about their sin – When it comes to sin They quit making excuses –

 

B) We live in the age of excuses – Hostess Twinkies

 Mom / Dad- Issues galore –

1) All these reasons why –

C) True Brokenness calls it sin ! 

1) David….. I have sinned against you God only you!

 

D) Person who is truly broken – takes ownership for their actions

 

E)  They quit blaming their sins on others / or on how they had been hurt in the past

1) They take ownership of their lives – they own up to their short comings – failures – mistakes

 

They are able to say: I was selfish – I wasn’t a good husband – I wasn’t caring

A) I wasn’t a good wife –

 

B)  I was a Hypocrite in the Church –

1) Pretended to be something I wasn’t

 

C) Now the Bible says – that if we confess our sin  God is faithful and just to forgive and to cleanse.

1) Confess carries the idea - See it as sin – like God does – we confess

 

D) That is where true conversion is first seen in the life of a person who says – I have sinned

1) I was WRONG – It is my fault –

 

E) When a person is broken and willing to take responsibility for their sins, God can do a great thing

1) Psalm 51:17 The sacrifice God wants is a broken

spirit. God will not reject a heart that is broken

and sorry for sin. NCV

 

God will never plant the seed of his life upon the soil of

a hard, unbroken spirit. He will only plant that seed

where the conviction of his Spirit has brought

brokenness, where the soil has been watered with the

tears of repentance as well as the tears of joy.

   Alan Redpath

 

So true confession is the 1st mark of a real conversion

2nd Mark is repentance!

A) Repent – means to have a change of heart – change of attitude – change of direction

 

B) Idea of doing a 180 – going in the opposite direction

 

C) To turn from going the wrong way and to start going the right way!

 

D) The repentive attitude of Onesimus is seen in the fact that he was willing to return

1) Willing to go back to Philemon and face the music

 

E) There is no hint in the story – that he balked at the idea – begged Paul not to send him back

1) No hint of him having an attitude of – Isn’t it forgiven and forgotten – I don’t need to do that

 

 

In fact some Bible commentators believe that it was Onesimus who had the idea to return not Paul

A) The Fact was he was still a runaway slave and he needed to return – needed to put things right

 

B) Paul would send him with a letter asking

Philemon to forgive & him to pay Onesimus debt

1) But there was no guarantee

 

C) But it was the right thing to do – that is what he did !

 

This little book is important because it says a new life does not release one from old debts.

A) Yes, we have a new life in Christ, and He looks at us as being without spot or wrinkle positionally,

 

B) but we also have an obligation to the people around us practically to pay old debts & make things right.

 

C) Onesimus showed that his conversion was real because – he was willing to go back

1) His conversion was marked by a real repentance

 

Repentance has a double aspect; it looks upon things past with a weeping eye, and upon the future with a watchful eye.  Robert South

 

D) He left Collossae going in the wrong direction – now 180 – heading in the right direction

 

 

So the conversion of Onesimus was marked by

1st confession / 2nd repentance

A) 3rd a Concern for others – Onesimus became a Profitable Servant

 

B) Consider what Paul says here –

10I appeal to you for my son Onesimus, whom I have begotten while in my chains, 11who once was unprofitable to you, but now is profitable to you and to me.

12I am sending him back. You therefore receive him, that is, my own heart, 13whom I wished to keep with me, that on your behalf he might minister to me in my chains for the gospel.

 

C) Paul says I know that at one time – he was not profitable or useful to you –

1) but he has been extremely useful to me –

 

D) So much so that I wish I could keep him here so he could continue to minister to me in my chains.

 

E) A Minister means to wait on someone and attend to their needs.

B) Now in his past life as a slave Onesimus served because he had to. Because he was required to

1) He waited on others because it was his duty.

 

C) But now he was doing it willingly – he did it gladly !

 

 

This is a true mark of a person who is really growing in Christ – True encounter with Christ

A) They become much more others centered than self centered.

 

B) The natural tendency of the Fleshly man is to look out for #1 – concerned about #1 –

1) Take the h off of the word flesh and backwards it spells self

 

C) That is the natural characteristic of the flesh – be concerned about Self: Self care / focus / preservation

 

But that is the opposite of what Jesus modeled –

He was all about others

A) Came not to be served but to serve – Give his life for others

 

B) His heart was all about caring for others – Being there for others

That is what begins to happen in the life of someone who is really following Christ – Servants

A) Others centered rather than self centered!

 

B) That is what happened to Onesimus: he was no longer interested in running away

1) He wasn’t looking for happiness and meaning in some pleasure –

 

C) He discovered what Jesus said is true : it is more blessed to give than to receive.

 

D) The inference in the text was he stayed and ministered to Paul even when he could have left – long before.

 

That same attitude seen in Jesus begins to permeate the life of the Christian –

A) Not doing it to improve their own self worth

 

B) So many today- motivation – they serve they help out – improve self worth – self perception

 

C) True Believer serves because – Jesus did – Jesus in him is a servant

 

 

We live in this society where we are so programmed to be preoccupied with ourselves

A) How we look/ How we feel/ how others perceive us 

 

B) Focus is on our happiness / our goals / our dreams

 

C) Rare that you meet someone who Genuinely cares about others – for no selfish motives

1) There are a lot of people today who serve and help out with Charities – Motivation is still selfish

 

D) Improve their sense of Self will – Helping out makes me feel better about myself –

1) It gives me a sense of purpose

 

Those are prevalent reasons why people give

A) But for the Maturing Christian – It is what Jesus would do – He is leading me to do

 

B) There are lots of kind & generous people in the World –

1) What Separates the Believer- From nice people?

 

C) His Concern for others !

 

D) Onesimus went from being a slave – required

1) To being a servant – Willingly 

 

Was this the end of the story? Surely not.

A) Onesimus and Philemon went on to lead even more productive lives for Christ.

 

B) Many believe that Philemon, in deference to Paul’s expressed desire to have Onesimus back - returned him to Paul in Rome, where he further developed into a great man of God.

 

C) The historical evidence supports this.

 

Fifty years later when Ignatius, one of the great Christian martyrs, was being transported from Antioch to Rome to be executed, he wrote letters to certain churches.

 

In writing to Ephesus he praised their Pastor Onesimus!

It appears likely that Onesimus, the runaway slave, had become, with the passing of years, the great Pastor  of Ephesus !

 

Talking total Transformation

 

I ask you today in closing: What are you running from?  What are you running after ?

A) What are you hoping to find ? Freedom in Pleasure

Can’t experience enough

 

B) Freedom in Possessions – Fill void – emptiness

Never attain enough – Slave to wanting more

 

 

B) Looking for freedom in Religion –

   Not there – Only in Christ

 

C) Freedom in only found in Relationship

 

John 8:32

32 And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free."

 

John 8:36

36 Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed.

 

 

the cartoon character Calvin says to his tiger friend, Hobbes, "I feel bad that I called Susie names and hurt her feelings. I'm sorry I did it."

   "Maybe you should apologize to her," Hobbes suggests. Calvin ponders this for a moment and replies, "I keep hoping there's a less obvious solution."

   When we want to restore our relationship with God, we need to remember that he has a liking for the obvious solution.