Philemon: A
Master Who Was Called To Forgive!
Philemon 1-25
Have
you ever been burned? Ever been stabbed in the back ? Ever been Maligned?
Have
you ever had your trust Broken ?
A) What did you do? How did you respond? How
did that impact your life? Where did it take you?
B) Down which road – Hatred? Bitterness?
Isolation? Or
Love and forgiveness
C) Did it Make you: Bitter or Better ?
1)
Did it become a Stumbling block that kept you from fellowship / ministry from
growing
D) Was it a Stumbling block in your life or a stepping stone to deeper growth – more ministry /
richer fellowship
Paul
writes this letter to Philemon – who had a reputation for being a good man –
kind, loving, blessed others
A) V.4-7 Refreshed others in the Lord
B) But this kind
& loving man got burned –
1)
Slave who’s name was Onesimus – Stole & Ran
C) Rome – Paul – Saved – Grew – Became a Help
D) Paul sends him Back and asks Philemon to
receive him
Now
Under Roman law Philemon didn’t have to do that !
A) He could have had
Onesimus killed or severely beaten – [Made an
Example ]
B) But
Paul was asking him to live under another set of laws – Higher law the Law of
Christ
Read v.12- 15-17
C) Receive = to take to one’s self – Intimacy
– brotherhood
Philemon
was a Master who was called to forgive
A)
Consider today 4 things:
1)
The ramifications of Unforgiveness
2)
The Premise of Forgiveness
3)The
Difference between Unforgiveness & Restoration
4)
The Results of forgiveness and Restoration
Forgiveness
is a Non Negotiable thing in the body of Christ - The Lord calls us to forgive
B) We have been forgiven and the Lord wants us
to be forgivers
1)
And a Failure to forgive will have some damaging affects upon our lives
C)
Consider 5 Ramifications of Unforgiveness
#1 failure to forgive will imprison believers in their past.
A) Unforgiveness keeps the
pain alive. – Been wounded by someone –
that wound needs to heal
B) Unforgiveness
keeps the sore open; it never allows the wound to heal.
#2
Failure to forgive produces bitterness.
A) The longer believers
dwell on offenses committed against them, the more bitter they become.
B) Bitterness is not just a
sin; it is an infection. { It spreads
1)
The writer of Hebrews warns, about the root of bitterness that causes you and those
around you to be defiled (Heb. 12:15).
C) A bitter person’s speech
is cutting, sarcastic, even slanderous.
1) Bitterness distorts a person’s whole
outlook on life, producing violent emotions, intolerance, and thoughts of
revenge.
#3
Failure to forgive gives Satan an open door.
A)
Paul warns believers in Ephesians 4:26-27, “Be angry, and yet do not sin; do not let the sun go down
on your anger, and do not give the devil an opportunity.
Texan Don Nut says he and
his wife have been married fifty years.
He says that the secret is that they never went to bed without settling
any differences between them. But Don
concedes there have been times when he went ten days without sleep.
#4 Failure to forgive hinders fellowship with
God.
A) Our Lord solemnly warned, “If you forgive men for their transgressions, your
heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men, then your
Father will not forgive your transgressions”
Matt. 6:14-15
B) The
forgiveness envisioned in this passage is not the complete and comprehensive
forgiveness that accompanies salvation, because that already is done.
C)
Currently we are saved – our salvation is secure – but we are in the process of
Sanctification – God’s molding
1)
Unforgiveness hinders that –
D)
It is a sobering truth that believers will forfeit God’s blessing and invite
His chastening in their lives if they fail to forgive others.
#5
Failure to forgive usurps God’s authority
A) By refusing to forgive
others and seeking our own revenge, we usurp the authority of God.
B) Paul urged believers to
“bless those who persecute you; bless and curse not.
1)
Never take your own revenge, beloved, but leave room for the wrath of God, for
it is written, ‘Vengeance
is Mine, I will repay,’ says the Lord” Romans 12:19
There was a widow who had “Rest In Peace” put on her
husband’s tombstone. When she found out
that he left her out of his will, she had added, “TILL I COME.”...
C) By failing to forgive,
believers presume to take the sword of divine judgment out of God’s hand and
put it in their own hands.
1)
Such an attitude implies that God is unjust, indifferent, or unable to judge,
all of which is blasphemous.
D)
Listen God is far more able to deal with offenses against us than we are.
1)
He has a complete understanding of the situation, while our understanding is
limited
E) So Freeing – I am going to forgive and I am
going to trust the Lord to deal with that person
1) I am going to accept how he
chooses to deal with them – He is right and Just –
So
Paul here is asking Philemon to Forgive his runaway slave Onesimus
A) Now there is a difference
between forgiveness and Restoration – talk about in a minute
B) 1st I want to
Consider the Premise of this request to forgive! 2 things
B) 1)
V. 18 – Charge that to my account:
1) Jesus would say to us – I
died for that sin
C) Marah – bitterness –
throw in the tree – Charge that to my account
Philemon
owed a Debt – v.19
I, Paul, am
writing with my own hand. I will repay -- not to mention to you that you owe me
even your own self besides.
A) We owe a debt – We have
been forgiven of so much !
B) Jesus told a Parable of a
man who owed a king a large some of money: He begged for mercy
1) The King granted it –
forgave his debt –
C) But that same man went
out and found a man who owed him a debt that was far less
1) The man who owed the debt
– begged for mercy
D)
Now the man who had been forgiven by the king refused to forgive this lesser
debt –
1) Thru the man in prison –
E) King found out – Couldn’t
believer it – Thru that man in Prison -
Pt
Jesus is making – How can you even think about not forgiving when I have
forgiven you of so much
A) That is the question that
Jesus would ask us
B) Unforgiveness is an
indication that we have no concept of ourselves as sinners
1) We have been forgiven of a
great debt – so great deserved to die
C) This is what Paul is referring to here -
1)
Onesimus owes Philemon a material debt; Philemon owes Paul a spiritual debt.
D)
Onesimus owes Philemon a temporal debt; Philemon owes Paul an eternal one.
1)
His eternity
E)
SO based on those premises – Forgiveness is not an option – it is
required
1) it is necessary for our own well being –
but having said that:
But
having said that we also must understand that there is a difference between
forgiveness & Restoration
A) Understand there is a
difference between forgiveness and restoration{ Restoration is based on trust
B) Story of Paul &
Barnabas and John Mark
1) 1st Missionary Journey
– JM came along – Some point he bailed
C) We are not sure why he
bailed – Maybe he didn’t like the shift in leadership from Barney to Paul –
1)
Uncle Barney was encouraging – Paul was intense – I am out of here
D) Whatever the
situation it seems it caused Paul a lot
of grief...
1) Paul
needed guys he could trust in the ministry especially since they were in battle
on the front lines as missionaries...
Now
we can be sure that Paul forgave JM for whatever it was that caused him to bail
on the first journey...
A) But Paul didn't trust John Mark. To go on the 2nd trip
B) Because Trust is
established
1) over time, 2) under a variety of circumstances 3)
with consistent actions.
C) John Mark
did establish the trust again with Paul... but it was 1) OVER TIME
2)
UNDER A VARIETY OF CIRCUMSTANCES
3)
WITH CONSISTENT ACTIONS
D) Paul later asked for JM
specifically... Send him Timothy... He is profitable for me in the ministry etc
That
is what we also see in this Story !
A)
Philemon was called to restore Onesimus – actually more than restore to receive him
– no longer as a slave but as a brother
B) Premise of the request to
Receive and restore - Paul is not
saying forgive and receive him regardless
1)
Saying forgive him – Your debt – but receive him because He has been Proven
C) Change – that occurred over time – In Jail
– Paul’s son begotten in Chains
D) Witnessed by consistent actions – in variety of circumstances -
1) In Jail
He grew in the Lord – In Service –
Became profitable
2) In returning
– He could have kept running but he returned to face the Music - this showed a true heart of repentance
E) Restoration is based on those things
Some
feel that they can break trust (marriage, ministry, etc) and should be
immediately trusted again after repentance... That's not reality...
A)
This story and the Story of John Mark reject that premise – both men were
forgiven / and both men were restored
B) But their restoration was
established
1)
over time, 2) under a variety of circumstances, 3) with consistent actions)
The
result of Such Forgiveness and Restoration –
a)
Others are refreshed – v.20 Paul’s heart would be blessed by this
Yes,
brother, let me have joy from you in the Lord; refresh my heart in the Lord.
b)
Philemon’s faith would have an opportunity to shine in an even greater way v.6
that the
sharing of your faith may become effective by the acknowledgment of every
good thing which is in you in Christ Jesus.
The
Acknowledgement of the good in Philemon because of Christ – would be
demonstrated thru this scenario
Never are we more like God
than when we forgive. Never are we more like Christ than when we pay someone
else’s debt so that reconciliation can take
place.
A mother once came to
President Lincoln seeking the pardon of her son, under sentence of death. The
result of her pleading was that Lincoln issued a pardon. After leaving him, as
she passed through a corridor, she exclaimed to Thaddeus Stevens, who
accompanied her, "I knew it was a lie!"
Stevens asked: "What do you refer to?"
She replied with vehemence, "Why, they told me he was an
ugly-looking man, but he is the handsomest man I ever saw in my life."
c)
The ministry of the gospel would have the chance to spread further thru
Onesimus life. V.12-14 –
I believe Paul knew that God
wanted to do more with this man’s life
History tells us He did – Pastor at Ephesus