Verse-by-Verse Bible Commentary
Philemon 1:15

Clarke's Commentary

Verse Philemon 1:15. He-departed for a season — This is another most delicate stroke. He departed thy slave, thy unfaithful slave; he departed for a short time; but so has the mercy of God operated in his behalf, and the providence of God in thine, that he now returns, not an unfaithful slave, in whom thou couldst repose no confidence, but as a brother, a beloved brother in the Lord, to be in the same heavenly family with thee for ever. Thou hast, therefore, reason to be thankful to God that he did depart, that he might be restored to thee again infinitely better than he was when be left thee. God has permitted his unfaithfulness, and overruled the whole both to his advantage and thine. The apology for Onesimus is very similar to that made by Joseph for his brethren, Genesis 45:5.

Bridgeway Bible Commentary

CONTENTS OF THE LETTER

Paul greets Philemon, his wife Apphia, and the other believers who meet in their home. He also greets Archippus, who was possibly their son and who was serving God in that region (1-3; cf. Colossians 4:17). Paul rejoices because of what he has heard (probably from Epaphras and Onesimus; cf. Colossians 1:7-8; Colossians 4:9,Colossians 4:12) of Philemon’s strong faith in God and sincere love for God’s people. This faith and love have been a source of strength and encouragement to the church in Colossae. Paul prays that Philemon will continue to share these blessings with others and so further build up the church (4-7).

Knowing Philemon’s caring nature, Paul does not have to use his apostolic authority to command Philemon in any way. He knows he can depend on Philemon’s generous spirit to forgive Onesimus and receive him back (8-9). Onesimus had once been a useless slave, but now his whole life has been changed. He has so lovingly helped Paul in prison that he has become like a son to Paul (10-11).
Although Paul would like to keep Onesimus with him, he feels that the right thing to do is to send him back to his original master, Philemon. No doubt Philemon would be happy to allow Onesimus to stay in Rome where he could continue to look after Paul, but that is a matter for Philemon to decide, not Paul. Whatever Philemon does, Paul wants him to do it willingly, not because Paul has forced him (12-14).
Perhaps it was God’s will that Onesimus left Philemon briefly so that he might be saved eternally. No longer will he be a lazy and uncooperative slave, but a willing and helpful brother in Christ. Philemon should therefore treat him as a brother (15-16).
If Onesimus stole or damaged anything in making his escape, Paul will gladly pay the cost on Onesimus’ behalf. However, Philemon should not forget the debt that he himself owes Paul, even his eternal salvation. But Paul’s gladness will be much greater if Philemon freely forgives everything (17-20). Paul is confident that Philemon will act with generosity - maybe do even more than Paul suggests and give complete freedom to the slave (21).

Paul hopes to be released soon and pay a visit to Colossae. In the meantime, he and those with him send greetings to Philemon personally, in addition to the greetings they had sent to the whole church in the Colossian letter (22-25; cf. Colossians 4:10-14).

Coffman's Commentaries on the Bible

For perhaps he was therefore parted from thee for a season, that thou shouldest have him for ever;

By this Paul affirms that perhaps the whole unfortunate event of the flight of the slave was providential, after all. Did not Joseph say to his brothers in Egypt, "God did send me before you to preserve life" (Genesis 45:5)?

That thou shouldest have him forever … means simply that Philemon would now have his slave permanently, but there may also be included the thought of all the redeemed having fellowship with their own eternally in heaven. In the case at hand, both meanings are appropriate. Barry believed that "It is better to take it in the absolute sense of fellowship in the life eternal." Alfred Barry, op. cit., p. 273.

Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible

For perhaps he therefore departed for a season - Perhaps on this account, or for this reason - διὰ τοῦτο dia touto - he left you for a little time. Greek, “for an hour” - πρὸς ὥραν pros hōran. The meaning is, that it was possible that this was permitted in the Providence of God in order that Onesimus might be brought under the influence of the gospel, and be far more serviceable to Philemon as a Christian, than he could have been in his former relation to him. What appeared to Philemon, therefore, to be a calamity, and what seemed to him to be wrong on the part of Onesimus, might have been permitted to occur in order that he might receive a higher benefit. Such things are not uncommon in human affairs.

That thou shouldest receive him for ever - That is, in the higher relation of a Christian friend and brother; that he might be united to thee in eternal affection; that he might not only be with thee in a far more endearing relation during the present life than he was before, but in the bonds of love in a world that shall never end.

Calvin's Commentary on the Bible

15For perhaps he was separated. If we are angry on account of offenses committed by men, our minds ought to be soothed, when we perceive that those things which were done through malice have been turned to a different end by the purpose of God. A joyful result may be regarded as a remedy for evils, which is held out to us by the hand of God for blotting out offenses. Thus Joseph — when he takes into consideration, that the wonderful providence of God brought it about, that, though he was sold as a slave, yet he was elevated to that high rank, from which he could provide food for his brethren and his father — forgets the treachery and cruelty of his brethren, and says, that he was sent before on their account. (Genesis 45:5.)

Paul therefore reminds Philemon that he ought not to be so greatly offended at the flight of his slave, for it was the cause of a benefit not to be regretted. So long as Onesimus was at heart a runaway, Philemon, though he had him in his house, did not actually enjoy him as his property; for he was wicked and unfaithful, and could not be of real advantage. He says, therefore, that he was a wanderer for a little time, that, by changing his place, he might be converted and become a new man. And he prudently softens everything, by calling the flight a departure, and adding, that it was onlyfor a time.

That thou mightest receive him for ever. Lastly, he contrasts the perpetuity of the advantage with the short duration of the loss.

Smith's Bible Commentary

Tonight let's turn to Philemon. Philemon was written by Paul the apostle unto the man whose name is Philemon who lived in Colossi. This letter was written at the same time that Paul wrote the Colossian epistle. When Paul wrote the Colossian epistle, he made mention that he was sending the letter with Tychicus, and that also Onesimus, who was one of their own, would be coming with Tychicus with the epistle. The letter of Philemon involves this man Onesimus, for Onesimus was at one time a slave of Philemon, who had evidently stolen some money and had run away. Now Paul is returning him with this epistle in which Paul is interceding for Onesimus, that Philemon might receive him no longer as a slave but as a brother in Christ.

This is one of Paul's prison epistles. And in it Paul not only asks Philemon to be merciful and gracious unto Onesimus, but also to be preparing a place for Paul to stay, for Paul is expecting to be released soon from prison, which he was released from that first imprisonment, later re-arrested and then executed. So,

Paul, a prisoner of Jesus Christ ( Philemon 1:1 ),

The Bible tells us "whatsoever we do in word or deed, we should do all to the glory of God" ( 1 Corinthians 10:31 ). Paul in his service was a servant of Jesus Christ. As a servant of Jesus Christ, his life was totally committed to the cause of Jesus Christ. So whatever happened to him, he did not look upon it personally but as unto the Lord and for the Lord's sake.

I think a lot of times we Christians get out of sorts because we are prone to personalize the reproach that comes on us for the cause of Jesus Christ. If while I am sharing my faith in Jesus Christ, or my love for the Lord with someone and they get upset with me and tell me that I'm a nut and things of this nature, I am prone to personalize the remarks, rather than realize that the animosity that they feel is not really directed towards me, it's directed towards the Lord that I represent. And I think that it's important that we make that distinction in our mind, that so oftentimes the reproach we bear is the reproach of Christ.

So that when in the early church they were beaten and told not to preach anymore in the name of Jesus, they rejoiced that they were counted worthy to suffer for Jesus Christ. And Paul talks about the many sufferings that he endured as filling up the afflictions of Christ. So here he sees himself, interestingly enough, not as a prisoner of Rome. Rome can't hold Paul nor can it hold back the work of the Spirit of God in Paul's life. "I'm a prisoner of Jesus Christ." And when you see things that way, it puts a whole different light on our experiences. I can endure; I can accept it when I realize that it is for the Lord and in His name and for His cause that I am experiencing these things.

Paul when he talked to the Ephesians there at Miletus there on the beach, he spoke to them how that he was with them serving the Lord. And we need to realize that the Lord is our Master, we are serving Him. Whatever befalls us, befalls us for His sake and for His glory and that really we are His servants, and thus the results of our service are also because of that service. So I'm a prisoner of Jesus Christ.

and Timothy our brother ( Philemon 1:1 ),

Now when Paul wrote the Colossian epistle, he also joined Timothy's name with his, for Timothy was well known to the church in Colossi. He had been there with Paul ministering. It is also interesting as we complete the letter, Marcus, Aristarchus, Demas, Lucas, Paul said, "My fellow laborers". These are the same men that Paul joins in his salutation in the Colossian epistle. So we know that they were both written at the same time.

By the time Paul wrote his second letter to Timothy in his second imprisonment, he said, "All of those from Asia have forsaken me" ( 2 Timothy 1:15 ), "Demas has forsaken me, having loved the present world" ( 2 Timothy 4:10 ), and so forth. So here with the epistle to Colossi, the same name that Paul joins with his in the closing salutation are joined in this epistle to Philemon. So he joins Timothy in the beginning as a greeting from Paul, and then also in the final salutation joins the same ones that he joins in the Colossian epistle. "To Timothy our brother,"

unto Philemon our dearly beloved, and fellowlabourer, and to our beloved Apphia ( Philemon 1:1-2 ),

Now Apphia was probably Philemon's wife. It is a feminine name and so it is probably the wife of Philemon that Paul is also greeting here at the beginning of the epistle.

and Archippus ( Philemon 1:2 )

Now there are some commentaries that suggest that Archippus was the son of Philemon and that he was in the ministry. Paul speaks of Archippus as being

a fellowsoldier ( Philemon 1:2 ),

And that was a phrase that was used of those who were also ministering together in the Gospel. And so the greeting probably to the household of Philemon, his wife Apphia, and his son Archippus.

and to the church that is in your house ( Philemon 1:2 ):

So at least Philemon had a home Bible study going in Colossi and there was a letter sent to the entire church of Colossi, but Paul here greets the church that is in his house. Or the word here is "eklesia," the assembly or those that are assembling in your house. In the early church they did not have church buildings. Quite often they met in homes and it was not at all uncommon to have a church within your house. And the church in its simplest form was constituted by two or three people gathering together in the name of Jesus. And Jesus said He would honor such a gathering. "Where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst" ( Matthew 18:20 ). And so Philemon had a church or a fellowship, a home Bible study going in his own house.

And the grace to you, and peace, from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ ( Philemon 1:3 ).

So the typical Pauline greeting, "the grace, and the peace coupled together, from God and from the Lord Jesus Christ."

I thank my God, making mention of thee always in my prayers ( Philemon 1:4 ),

The men that God uses are men of prayer, among other things, and it is interesting how often Paul makes references to his own personal prayer life. For in each of the epistles, he makes mention how that he is praying for them continually. And in some of them, how he is interceding for them night and day. Paul's life was a life of prayer, constantly in prayer, for Paul realized the power of prayer. You see, here was Paul imprisoned in Rome. Sitting there, as they believed, in the Mamartine prison, chained to a Roman guard. Rome could not stop the witness of Jesus Christ. For Paul through prayer was continuing his work in all of the churches that he had established as he prayed for them.

You see, the interesting thing about prayer is that it is not bound to locality as his service. We think that serving the Lord is probably one of the most important things that we can do. More important than service is prayer because there are times when through uncontrolled circumstances, our service must be limited. I mean if you're sitting there in a jail cell and you're chained to a Roman guard, your service is going to be quite restricted. But they could not restrict the power of Paul's prayers.

And so he has continued to exercise a very dynamic and powerful ministry in prayer, as through prayer he went around to the various churches and to the various individuals mentioning them by name. And here he speaks of how he is mentioning Philemon always in his prayers. And so Paul had, no doubt, a very extensive prayer list as he prayed for the churches, the specific churches, and then as he prayed for those leaders within the churches by name, holding them up before the Lord. And so the tremendous power of prayer as he sat there in his jail cell, he was going out through prayer around the provinces of Asia, on into Greece, on back to Jerusalem and doing a work for God while confined in that prison cell.

Paul said,

Hearing of the love and the faith, which you have toward the Lord Jesus, and toward all the saints ( Philemon 1:5 );

So Philemon was a blessed brother in Christ, one for whom Paul gave thanks because Paul heard of the love that Philemon had and of the faith that was demonstrated towards all the saints in the communication of his faith. Paul in the next verse speaks of the communication of this faith, which is faith in action. He demonstrated his faith to the church by what he did for the church and what he gave to those in the church and to those in need.

As James said, "You say you have faith: [well] you show me your works and I will show you your faith" ( James 2:18 ). And so Paul speaks of the faith that Philemon has that is actually proven or demonstrated in the fact that he is sharing with the church.

The word translated "communication" here is that Greek word "koinonia" which actually means the fellowship or the sharing, one, the sharing of what one has with others, the mutual sharing. Now Philemon probably was a very wealthy man, the fact that he had slaves. But he was also one who was willing to share what he had with others who didn't have, and thus it was a demonstration of his true faith.

That the communication [or the koinonia, the fellowship or the sharing] of your faith may become effectual by the acknowledging of every good thing which is in you in Christ Jesus ( Philemon 1:6 ).

So that work of Jesus Christ within his life was demonstrated by his life, and a life of love, and a life of sharing with those within the body of Christ.

Now Paul gets to the subject matter, Onesimus. "Wherefore" -- well, you see I jumped verse seven tonight.

For we have great joy and consolation in thy love, because the bowels of the saints are refreshed by thee, brother ( Philemon 1:7 ).

And so Paul really rejoiced in the witness of this man's life and in the work of God within his life that was demonstrated through the works that he did.

Wherefore, though I might be very bold in Christ to enjoin thee that which is convenient [or fitting], yet for love's sake I would rather beseech thee ( Philemon 1:8-9 ),

Now Paul was the apostle, he had the authority as an apostle to enjoin or to order a person to do a particular thing. And though Paul said, I could enjoin you. I could order you to do this, I'm not going to order you, I'm going to beg you. I'm beseeching you.

Jesus said to His disciples that the Gentiles loved to exercise lordship. They loved to rule over people. They loved to show their authority. But he said it shall not be so among you. For whoever would be the chief among you, let him become the servant of all.

And so here is Paul. He has authority as an apostle. Rather than coming on heavy with authority and saying, Now, Philemon, this is what I'm commanding you to do, he said, "I'm begging you to do this, Philemon". He's appealing really to the love that he knows Philemon has, to the compassion that this man has demonstrated. And how much better it is when someone comes appealing to the higher nature of love.

Now there are some who aren't moved much by love, and so the Bible says you got to save some by fear. And of course, some preachers really take that scripture to heart and they dangle people over the pit of hell every Sunday, in order that they might save some by fear. But there is another scripture that says, Don't you realize that it is "the goodness of God that brings a man to repentance" ( Romans 2:4 ).

Now some are saved by fear, but that is a base motivation. Paul said it's the love of Christ that constrains me. Drawn by the love of Christ, higher motivation. And so he chooses to appeal to the higher motivation, begging him because of the love that he knows he possesses. "Wherefore, though I might be very bold in Christ to order thee to do that which is right or fitting, yet for love's sake I would rather beseech thee."

being such a one as Paul the aged ( Philemon 1:9 ),

How old was Paul? Paul at this point was probably in his late fifties or early sixties, but he had endured such hardship for the cause of Christ that his body was a wreck. And he spoke of his oft sicknesses many times. And so though he was only around sixty, he speaks of himself as the aged.

and now also a prisoner of Jesus Christ ( Philemon 1:9 ).

Again, not acknowledging a prisoner of Rome, but a prisoner of Jesus Christ.

And I beseech thee for my son Onesimus, whom I have begotten in my bonds ( Philemon 1:10 ):

Now in the Greek text, the word Onesimus comes at the end of this sentence. So Paul in the Greek text said, "I beseech thee for my son whom I have begotten in my bonds, Onesimus." Now Onesimus was probably a name that had a strong reaction in Philemon's heart and mind. He had been a slave. He evidently had stolen some money before he ran away. And Philemon was probably extremely upset over this, as you would be if someone that you had in your household that you trusted and all would suddenly take some money and run off.

When we were living in Huntington Beach, there was a little old man that came by and needing some help, and he was sort of a transient but our hearts went out to him. And so we fixed up a place for him to stay and we fed him and took care of him and gave him some money. And we came home one day and found that he was gone and my power tools were also missing. Now for several months you mention that man's name to me and my blood boiled. I mean, I would have loved to have gotten hold of that fellow again. That was the best body grinder and my tools were just, you know, I really, they were tools that I had inherited from my brother when he was killed in a plane crash and I always had been a craftsman and loved working with tools. I couldn't afford them myself but when I got them, you know, I really prized them and cherished them and to have this guy rip off my power -- after we had done these kindnesses to him, shown him nothing but kindness and yet he turns around and rips -- oh man, I'll tell you.

And so Philemon probably had this same kind of reaction anytime you mentioned the name Onesimus, he's, "Oh boy, if I could just get my hands on that fellow", you know. And so Paul is careful not to mention his name at the beginning of the sentence. I beseech you for my son, whom I have begotten in my bonds, Onesimus. So he cushions the name by indicating that there has been a change in this fellow, that change that always takes place when one comes to know the power of Jesus Christ within their life. And Paul goes on to speak of the change that transpired in the life of Onesimus, but he calls him my son, begotten in my bonds,

which in time past [he said] was to thee unprofitable, but now he is profitable to you and to me ( Philemon 1:11 ):

Now I want to beseech you for this young man. I know he was unprofitable. I know what he did, but he has changed. He is now very profitable to me and also to you.

And I am sending him again: and I am asking you to receive him, that is, he who has been begotten from me ( Philemon 1:12 ):

He is part of me. He is out of my 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 ( Philemon 1:13 ):

Now I know Philemon you would like to be here to be ministered to me, because of these bonds. Paul still had a great work to do, but he would send those on errands. He was bound by a chain to the prison guard. But he was having them write letters for him. He was sending them out on missions and errands. And he said, I know Philemon that you would like to be here helping me in this condition, but he's been here representing you, doing the work that you would like to be doing for me while I am here in these bonds.

Onesimus being a slave, of course, had that miserable lot in life of a slave. One of the most horrible and heinous things that man could ever do to his fellow man is to bring one into slavery. My heart goes out to those people who have become the slaves of the state in the communist country. One of the greatest evils of a man is the oppression of a fellow man.

In the Roman empire slavery was in deed a horrible crime against humanity. During the time that Paul wrote this epistle there were sixty million slaves in the Roman empire. There was always the fear that these sixty million people may rise up in mass, and it was always a constant threat to the Roman Empire. And thus whenever a slave showed any sign of rebellion, such as running away, he was dealt with extremely severely. Usually he was put to death in order to create fear in the hearts of the rest of the slaves, that this is what happens if you dare to rebel against the authority. The least thing that would happen would be an "F" branded into the forehead with a hot branding iron to create the scar so that always he would have the mark of the "fugetivos," that of a fugitive, the mark of the runaway slave.

A slave had no rights, no rights of ownership, no rights of any kind. There was no one a slave could appeal to. If you were beaten, if you were robbed, whatever, you couldn't appeal to anybody. There was no authority to protect you as a slave. Your master had the sole and complete authority over your existence, which he had the right to terminate at any time he desired. Any time he wanted to, he could kill you and he would not have to answer to any charges. Slaves were often beaten, kept in the most miserable condition by sadists who delighted in torturing them. A miserable lot in deed. Of course, those who were masters were enjoined by Paul in the Ephesian epistle how to treat their slaves with kindness and love.

But with Philemon, Paul is making an appeal now. Philemon could if he desired put Onesimus to death. He should have branded him according to the customs with the "F" in his forehead. But Paul is saying, I want you to receive him. I would have retained him with me that in your stead, in your place he might be ministering to me here in my bonds, but without your permission I would do nothing that you benefit should not be as it were of necessity but willing.

God does not want anything we do for Him or give to Him to be given out of necessity or out of pressure. God never uses pressure tactics on man. Now man often uses pressure tactics. I get some extremely high pressured letters filled with hype from a lot of these evangelists who would have me to believe that God is broke. And they are telling me how much money to send and to send it immediately. And even suggesting that if I don't have it immediately available to go down to the bank and borrow it and send it to them to bail God out of the jam that he is in, because He overspent again last month. Pressure.

Paul said I don't want to receive anything from you by necessity by pressure, by manipulation. Now I would have liked to have kept him with me, but I wouldn't do it unless you gave your permission, because I want what is done; though he would have been very helpful to me. I want what you do to me not to be out of pressure, not out of necessity. I want you to do it willingly. And so Paul talking about our giving in his Corinthian epistle said it shouldn't be of necessity, of pressure, but every man should purpose and so let him give, for God loves a cheerful, or in the Greek, a "hilarious" giver. So what you can give to God hilariously give, but what you can't give hilariously keep. It is better that you keep it than to give it to God grudgingly. God doesn't want anything done in a grudging way.

Now I can understand that I don't want people to do things in a grudging way. I have had people give stuff to me and then I heard that they were going around grudging about what they give. I take it back and say, Hey I really don't need this. Take it back. Oh no, it's -- No, I won't keep it. You don't want people to gripe. If they want to give because they love you, great, but if they are going to gripe about it and begrudge what they have given then I'd rather they not give. That is why when this fellow that gave us the house in Hawaii, he came up to us and said I would like my house back. We gave it back to him. I don't want anything that a person has remorse afterwards that he has done it. And the same with God.

You want to serve the Lord, serve Him with a joyful, happy, willing heart. If you want to give to God, give with a joyful, happy, willing heart. And if you can't give with a joyful, happy, willing heart, don't give. Better not to give because you're not going to get any reward for it anyhow. You give to God and you say, Oh, here You are, God, and you give something to God and you go around griping about it, God just marks it off. Just as though you hadn't given it. You won't get any credit for it, so you might as well keep it.

So Paul, I would like to have kept him with me, he was really a blessing, a benefit to me.

But I wouldn't do it without your permission; because I want this benefit to me, not to come as a pressure or a necessity, but willingly ( Philemon 1:14 ).

I want you if -- I want it to be from your heart. You willingly doing it.

For perhaps he therefore departed for a season, that you should receive him for ever ( Philemon 1:15 );

Now we don't know what God is working out so many times in our lives when we have disappointments. When Onesimus took the money and split, Philemon was no doubt very upset. And he probably was saying, Why would God allow him to rip me off like that and take off? Why would God allow this to happen and all?

And Paul says, look, you don't know. Maybe this was all a part of God's plan to reach Onesimus with the gospel of Jesus Christ. Maybe you lost him for a little bit that you might gain him forever. For it was while he was in Rome that he came to the knowledge of Jesus Christ. Now he's a brother in Christ, an eternal brother in Christ. So you lost him for a moment but you gained him forever. He's now an eternal brother in the bond of Jesus Christ.

An interesting thing, during the hippie counterculture revolution, thousands upon thousands of young people left home. Many of them ran away from home. And the parents were so upset and disturbed their children had ran away from home. Well, many of them in their searching found Jesus Christ as the answer for their quest of life. And their parents lost them for a little while but they gained them as eternal brothers and sisters in the Lord. God did the work in their heart.

Sometimes a husband or a wife leaves. And there is such sorrow and grief. But you don't know what God is working out. You don't know, but what maybe they've left for a season that God might do an eternal work within their lives and bring things together as He wants them to be.

It is important that we learn to just commit our ways unto the Lord, every situation. Well, Lord, You're in control. My life belongs to you. And I know, Lord, that You are controlling the circumstances that surround my life. And so work out Your plan and rather than getting all upset, rather than fretting, getting angry and all, it's best that we just commit it to the Lord and say, Well, Lord, You're in control and I don't know what You're doing but I just trust You, Lord. Now that is where faith comes in.

If I only can believe God when I can see what He's doing, when I can understand His work, that isn't faith and that doesn't take any faith. What takes faith is to have that rest and confidence when things seem to be going completely against me. But they oftentimes only seem to be going completely against me as when Jacob said, "All things are against me". Why did he cry that? Because he didn't see everything. He said all things but he was wrong. All things weren't against him. If he only knew the truth, some of the greatest, most happy moments of his life were just around the corner. That fellow down there in Egypt that seems to be so mean and hard is in reality his son Joseph who he has bereaved for so many years and he's going to soon discover that his son is alive and he's going to be embracing Joseph again. He doesn't know the whole picture. He only sees a part of it and he cries out in dismay.

And we, so often, seeing just a part of the picture cry out in dismay. All things are against me. Oh, no, no, no, you don't know the full cycle. You don't know the full story. You don't know what God is working out. Just wait, trust in the Lord, rest in Him and let God work it out and you'll see that God's plan was far wiser than anything you could have devised as He began to put together that eternal work in the hearts and the lives of your friends or in your own heart and life as you learn to trust in Him more completely. It is so important that we learn to just commit things unto the Lord, even those things that seem to be against us.

And so Paul's rationale is a very reasonable rationale, looking at the consequences of Onesimus' running away. The consequence was that he came to Jesus Christ and became a brother in Christ and will share eternity now together with Philemon. The end result is that he has become now a profitable person who was once unprofitable. And so I want you to receive him, Paul said.

Not now as a slave ( Philemon 1:16 ),

Paul is asking Philemon to release him from this obligation of a slave.

but above a slave ( Philemon 1:16 ),

I want you to receive him as

a beloved brother, especially to me, but how much more unto you, both in the flesh, and in the Lord ( Philemon 1:16 )?

So Paul is asking for more than just forgiveness for Onesimus, he's asking for a total pardon even from the slavery that he once endured. I want you to receive him, not as a slave anymore, more than a slave. I want you to receive him as a beloved brother. Release him from that slavery.

If you count me therefore a friend ( Philemon 1:17 ),

A co-laborer. I want you to

receive him as myself ( Philemon 1:17 ).

That you would treat him with the same kindness that you would treat me and have treated me. The same love, that you would do for him the things that you've done for me.

If he has wronged you, or owes you anything, put that on my account ( Philemon 1:18 );

You just charge it to me.

For I Paul have written it with my own hand, I will repay it ( Philemon 1:19 ):

And here we have Paul the intercessor, interceding with Philemon concerning this unprofitable slave who has now been converted to Jesus Christ, asking his release and release from slavery, to be received as a brother, to be received even above that as Paul himself. And to be forgiven any debt that he owes or at least that debt to be charged to Paul. Paul promises he'll reimburse. "I will pay". That's intercession.

Now the Bible says that Jesus is "able to save to the uttermost, seeing he ever lives to make intercession for us" ( Hebrews 7:25 ). Isaiah prophesied that he would make intercession for the transgressors. Paul in Romans eight says, "Who is he that condemns? It is Christ who has died, yea rather, is risen again, and is even at the right hand of the Father, making intercession for us" ( Romans 8:34 ). Jesus is not condemning you, does not condemn you, has not condemned you, will not condemn you.

Jesus said, "I didn't come to condemn the world but that the world through me might be saved" ( John 3:17 ). Who is he then that condemns? It isn't Jesus. He's making intercession for you. And even as Paul interceded for Onesimus, so does Jesus intercede for you. "Father, I want you to receive them, no longer as sinners but as those who have been washed and cleansed as brothers, eternal sons of God. Father, I want you to treat them even as You treat me". Glorified together with Him. Seated together with Him in heavenly places. The Father's blessing and grace and goodness to us as though we were His sons. And then finally, "if they owe you anything, put it to my account".

And so all of my sins are charged to Jesus. All of my guilt is charged to Him. God laid on Him the iniquities of us all. If they owe you anything, put it to my account, I will pay. And Jesus paid it all, "all to Him I owe". I love the last verse of that song, And when before the throne I stand in Him complete, Jesus died my soul to save. My lips shall still repeat, "for Jesus paid it all. All to Him I owe". Sin had left a crimson stain but He washed it white as snow. And in His intercession for you and for me, He is asking that we receive with Him the honor and the glory of the eternal kingdom. Let all of our guilt be transferred to His account. All of our debt He has accepted the responsibility for.

So Paul said, I have written it with my own hand. I will repay it.

however I will make mention of the fact that you owe me even your own life ( Philemon 1:19 ).

Evidently, Philemon was one of Paul's converts. Paul had the opportunity of sharing with him the glorious gospel of Jesus Christ and so he owed to Paul his conversion, that gift of eternal life that he had because Paul was the instrument God used in bringing him to the knowledge of Jesus Christ. So if he owes you anything, put it on my account. However, I'll remind you that you owe me quite a bit, you know, even your very own life.

Yes, brother, let me have joy of thee in the Lord: refresh my bowels in the Lord ( Philemon 1:20 ).

Now in our culture and in our modern use of the word "bowels", it is difficult to understand why Paul would say such a thing as "refresh my bowels in the Lord." But we've got to realize that we're dealing with a different culture and different concepts of cultures. And according to the beliefs, and they may not be so far from right, according to the beliefs of the culture at that time, the deepest emotions of a man were not felt in the head but were felt in the region of the stomach.

When the grief was extremely deep, it was felt down in the area of the stomach rather than in the head. When the experiences of joy hit the sublime point, it wasn't an experience that went on in your brain; it was an experience that went on deep inside of you, in the deep areas of you which they call the bowels. And so we are told to have bowels of compassion and bowels of mercy. And now Paul is speaking about joy supreme or the deepest kind of joy. This is the kind I want that is felt in the deep area.

Have you ever had an experience emotional so deep that you felt it sort of grab your stomach? You ever laugh so hard that you held your stomach? And because of that, they thought of the region of the stomach as being the area of the greatest joy and laughter and all. When you really get to laughing, man, it hurts your side. Doesn't hurt your head. You don't feel, you feel down here. And of course, we in our cheerful expressions and so forth, probably a carry over of the Victorian age, we're reluctant to talk about certain portions of the body, and thus it does sound a little foreign to us but the reference is to joy or sorrow or whatever in the deepest area of a man's being. And so it is emotions of the deepest sort that he is referring to here. Let me have joy.

Having confidence in your obedience I wrote unto you, knowing that you will do more than I say ( Philemon 1:21 ).

Now this is known as a presumptive clause. And any of you who are aware of salesmanship knows what a presumptive clause is. You have laid out all of the merchandise and here's a young girl and she's buying some things for her hope chest. And so she wants some towels. So she's in looking. She doesn't know if she's going to buy or not. But she's looking at towels and you show her the quality and you tell her how nice they are. And then you get out your little order pad and you say, Now which colors did you want? That's presumption. I'm presuming that she is going to buy them, so what color do you want, you know. Presumptive clause.

So Paul is using this presumptive clause on Philemon. I have confidence in your obedience, having this confidence in your obedience, I wrote unto you knowing that you're going to do what I ask. You're even going to do more. End of subject of Onesimus.

Now the close of the epistle.

Now also I want you to prepare me a place to stay: for I trust through your prayers that I shall be given unto you ( Philemon 1:22 ).

So fix up my room, I'll be there by the grace of God before long.

There salute thee Epaphras, my fellowprisoner in Christ Jesus; Marcus, Aristarchus, Demas, Lucas, my fellowlabourers. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit. Amen ( Philemon 1:23-25 ).

And so these same ones that Paul joins with his name in the greeting to the Colossian church are joined in the greeting to Philemon as we come to the close of this little personal letter.

Next week Hebrews chapters one and two.

Father, how grateful we are for the great high priest, Jesus Christ, who has gone into heaven for us to there stand as our representative and to make intercession for us. How thankful we are, Lord, that You have taken our case and You have chosen to represent us before the Father. We love You and we appreciate all You've done for us. And we thank You, Lord, that one day You will present us faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy. Lord, You're so good, so good to us and we thank You for it. Amen.

Now may the Lord be with you and bless you this week abundantly. May you experience real growth in your walk with Jesus Christ. May the grace of God abound unto you in all things as you experience again the touch of God's love and of His Spirit as He strengthens you, and as He guides you, and as He helps you, and as He works in you that perfect work. In Jesus' name. "

Contending for the Faith

For perhaps he therefore departed for a season, that thou shouldest receive him for ever;

For perhaps he therefore departed for a season: This thought is another beautiful and delicate stroke in Paul’s masterpiece. Paul suggests the providence of God may have been at work here. He says that perhaps Onesimus left for a short time so that he might be brought under the influence of the gospel and be saved. Onesimus departed a slave, an unprofitable slave, and returns a faithful, beloved brother in Christ. Again we are made to stand in awe of God!

that thou shouldest receive him for ever: In Christ, these two brethren, master and servant, not only have a closer relationship during this present life but are bound by love in a world that shall never end.

Dr. Constable's Expository Notes

III. PLEA FOR ONESIMUS vv. 8-21

Paul appealed to Philemon to receive Onesimus back and to forgive him. He did this to enable Onesimus to fulfill his obligations to Philemon and to encourage Philemon to benefit from Onesimus’ conversion rather than to be stumbled by it.

Dr. Constable's Expository Notes

B. Paul’s motives vv. 12-16

Dr. Constable's Expository Notes

Paul suggested that God may have permitted the events that had taken place to result in greater good (Romans 8:28), and he urged Philemon to view them in that light. The master should now regard his slave not as a slave but as a brother in Christ, which he was. [Note: Cf. Lightfoot, p. 341.] This does not mean that he would necessarily give Onesimus his freedom, though he might, but that he would treat him lovingly at least. There is evidence that long before Christianity a slave who became an initiate into a mystery religion ceased to be regarded as a slave but lived with his former owner as a free man. [Note: C. F. D. Moule, The Epistles of Paul the Apostle to the Colossians and to Philemon, p. 147.] In Onesimus, Philemon would receive one with whom he could share the fellowship of Christ and one who would render him more conscientious service than he could expect from a non-Christian.

"The supreme work of Christianity is to transform men, so that out of their transformed lives shall come the transformation of all social conditions, and the victories of righteousness and of love." [Note: G. Campbell Morgan, Living Messages of the Books of the Bible, 2:104. Cf. Müller, p. 168.]

"The principles of the gospel worked into the conscience of a nation destroy slavery." [Note: Alexander Maclaren, The Expositor’s Bible, 6:301.]

"Christianity is not out to help a man to escape his past and to run away from it; it is out to enable a man to face his past and to rise above it." [Note: William Barclay, The Letters to Timothy, Titus, and Philemon, p. 321.]

"It is quite clear that in this letter Paul is not really dealing with the question of slavery as such or the resolution of a particular instance of slavery. In this verse, at least, he treats the question of brotherly love. Although Onesimus’ earthly freedom may be of positive value, in the last analysis it is of no ultimate significance to him as a Christian as to whether he is slave or free. Finally what matters is to have accepted God’s call and to follow him . . ." [Note: O’Brien, p. 298. Cf. 1 Corinthians 7:20, 24.]

Barclay's Daily Study Bible

Chapter 1

A MAN TO WHOM IT WAS EASY TO APPEAL ( Philemon 1:1-7 )

1:1-7 This is a letter from Paul, the prisoner of Jesus Christ, and from Timothy, the brother, to Philemon our well-beloved and our fellow-worker; and to Apphia, the sister, and to Archippus, our fellow-soldier, and to the Church in your house. Grace be to you and peace from God, our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ.

The letter to Philemon is extraordinary, for in it we see the extraordinary sight of Paul asking a favour. No man ever asked fewer favours than he did, but in this letter he is asking a favour, not so much for himself, as for Onesimus, who had taken the wrong turning and whom Paul was helping to find the way back.

The beginning of the letter is unusual. Paul usually identifies himself as Paul an apostle; but on this occasion he is writing as a friend to a friend and the official title is dropped. He is not writing as Paul the apostle but as Paul the prisoner of Christ. Here at the very beginning Paul lays aside all appeal to authority and makes his appeal to sympathy and to love alone.

We do not know who Apphia and Archippus were, but it has been suggested that Apphia was the wife and Archippus the son of Philemon, for they, too, would be very much interested in the return of Onesimus, the runaway slave. Certainly Archippus had seen Christian service with Paul, for Paul speaks of him as his fellow-campaigner.

Philemon was clearly a man from whom it was easy to ask a favour. He was a man whose faith in Christ and love to the brethren all men knew, and the story of them had reached even Rome, where Paul was in prison. His house must have been like an oasis in a desert, for, as Paul puts it, he had refreshed the hearts of God's people. It is a lovely thing to go down to history as a man in whose house God's people were rested and refreshed.

In this passage there is one verse which is very difficult to translate and about which much has been written. It is Philemon 1:6 which the Revised Standard Version translates: "I pray that the sharing of your faith may promote the knowledge of all the good that is ours in Christ." The phrase translated the sharing of your faith, is very difficult. The Greek is koinonia (2842) pisteos (4102). As far as we can see, there are three possible meanings. (a) Koinonia (2842) can mean a sharing in; it can, for instance, mean partnership in a business. So this may mean your share in the Christian faith; and it might be a prayer that the faith which Philemon and Paul share in may lead Philemon deeper and deeper into Christian truth. (b) Koinonia (2842) can mean fellowship; and this may be a prayer that Christian fellowship may lead Philemon ever more deeply into the truth. (c) Koinonia (2842) can mean the act of sharing; in that case the verse will mean: "It is my prayer that your way of generously sharing all that you have will lead you more and more deeply into the knowledge of the good things which lead to Christ."

We think that the third meaning is correct. Obviously Christian generosity was a characteristic of Philemon; he had love to God's people and in his home they were rested and refreshed. And now Paul is going to ask the generous man to be more generous yet. There is a great thought here, if this interpretation is correct. It means that we learn about Christ by giving to others. It means that by emptying ourselves we are filled with Christ. It means that to be open-handed and generous-hearted is the surest way to learn more and more of the wealth of Christ. The man who knows most of Christ is not the intellectual scholar, not even the saint who spends his days in prayer, but the man who moves in loving generosity amongst his fellow-men.

THE REQUEST OF LOVE ( Philemon 1:8-17 )

1:8-17 I could well be bold in Christ to give you orders as to where your duty lies, but for love's sake I would rather put it in the form of a request, I, Paul, such as I am, an old man now, a prisoner of Christ. My request to you is for my child, whom I begat in my bonds--I mean Onesimus, who was once useless to you, but who is now useful to you and to me. I am sending him back to you, and that is the same as to send you a bit of my own heart. I could have wished to keep him beside myself, that he might serve me for you in the bonds which the gospel has brought to me; but I did not wish to do anything without your approval; so that the boon which I ask might not be forcibly extracted but willingly given. It may be that he was parted from you for a time that you might get him back for ever; and that you might get him back, no longer as a slave, but as more than a slave--a well-beloved brother, most of all to me, and how much more to you, both as a man and a Christian. If you consider me as a partner, receive him as you would receive me.

Paul, being Paul, could have demanded what he wished from Philemon, but he will only humbly request. A gift must be given freely and with good-will; if it is coerced it is no gift at all.

In Philemon 1:9 Paul describes himself. The King James Version translates--and we have retained the translation--Paul the aged, and a prisoner of Christ. A good number of scholars wish to substitute another translation for aged. It is argued that Paul could not really be described as an old man. He certainly was not sixty years old; he was somewhere between that and fifty-five. But on this ground those who object to the translation aged are wrong. The word which Paul uses of himself is presbutes (4246), and Hippocrates, the great Greek medical writer, says that a man is presbutes (4246) from the age of forty-nine to the age of fifty-six. Between these years he is what we might call senior; only after that does he become a geron (compare 1094), the Greek for an old man.

But what is the other translation suggested? There are two words which are very like each other; their spelling is only one letter different and their pronunciation exactly the same. They are presbutes (4246), old, and presbeutes (compare 4243), ambassador. It is the verb of this word which Paul uses in Ephesians 6:20, when he says, "I am an ambassador in bonds." If we think that the word ought to be presbeutes (4246), Paul is saying, "I am an ambassador, although I am an ambassador in chains." But it is far more likely that we should retain the translation old, for in this letter Paul is appealing all the time, not to any office he holds or to any authority he enjoys, but only to love. It is not the ambassador who is speaking, but the man who has lived hard and is now lonely and tired.

Paul makes his request in Philemon 1:10 and it is for Onesimus. We notice how he delays pronouncing the name of Onesimus, almost as if he hesitated to do so. He does not make any excuses for him; he freely admits he was a useless character; but he makes one claim--he is useful now. Christianity, as James Denney used to say, is the power which can make bad men good.

It is significant to note that Paul claims that in Christ the useless person has been made useful. The last thing Christianity is designed to produce is vague, inefficient people; it produces people who are of use and can do a job better than they ever could if they did not know Christ. It was said of someone that "he was so heavenly-minded that he was no earthly use." True Christianity makes a man heavenly-minded and useful upon earth at one and the same time.

Paul calls Onesimus the child whom he has begotten in his bonds. A Rabbinic saying runs, "If one teaches the son of his neighbour the law, the Scripture reckons this the same as though he had begotten him." To lead a man to Jesus Christ is as great a thing as to bring him into the world. Happy is the parent who brings his child into life and who then leads him into life eternal; for then he will be his child twice over.

As we have noted in the introduction to this letter, there is a double meaning in Philemon 1:12. "I am sending him back to you," writes Paul. But the verb anapempeim (375) does not mean only to send back, it also means to refer a case to; and Paul is saying to Philemon: "I am referring this case of Onesimus to you, that you may give a verdict on it that will match the love you ought to have." Onesimus must have become very dear to Paul in these months in prison, for he pays him the great tribute of saying that to send him to Philemon is like sending a bit of his own heart.

Then comes the appeal. Paul would have liked to keep Onesimus but he sends him back to Philemon, for he will do nothing without his consent. Here again is a significant thing. Christianity is not out to help a man escape his past and run away from it; it is out to enable him face his past and rise above it. Onesimus had run away. Well, then, he must go back, face up to the consequences of what he did, accept them and rise above them. Christianity is never escape; it is always conquest.

But Onesimus comes back with a difference. He went away as a heathen slave; he comes back as a brother in Christ. It is going to be hard for Philemon to regard a runaway slave as a brother; but that is exactly what Paul demands. "If you agree," says Paul, "that I am your partner in the work of Christ and that Onesimus is my son in the faith, you must receive him as you would receive myself."

Here again is something very significant. The Christian must always welcome back the man who has made a mistake. Too often we regard the man who has taken the wrong turning with suspicion and show that we are never prepared to trust him again. We believe that God can forgive him but we, ourselves, find it too difficult. It has been said that the most uplifting thing about Jesus Christ is that he trusts us on the very field of our defeat. When a man has made a mistake, the way back can be very hard, and God cannot readily forgive the man who, in his self-righteousness or lack of sympathy, makes it harder.

THE CLOSING APPEAL AND THE CLOSING BLESSING ( Philemon 1:18-25 )

1:18-25 If he has done you any damage or owes you anything, put it down to my account. I, Paul, write with my own hand--I will repay it, not to mention to you that you owe your very self to me. Yes, my brother, let me make some Christian profit out of you! Refresh my heart in Christ. It is with complete confidence in your willingness to listen that I write to you, for I know well that you will do more than I ask.

It is one of the laws of life that someone has to pay the price of sin. God can and does forgive, but not even he can free a man from the consequences of what he has done. It is the glory of the Christian faith that, just as Jesus Christ shouldered the sins of all men, so there are those who in love are prepared to help pay for the consequences of the sins of those who are dear to them. Christianity never entitled a man to default on his debts. Onesimus must have stolen from Philemon, as well as run away from him. If he had not helped himself to Philemon's money, it is difficult to see how he could ever have covered the long road to Rome. Paul writes with his own hand that he will be responsible and will repay in full.

It is interesting to note that this is an exact instance of a cheirographon (5498), the kind of acknowledgment met in Colossians 2:14. This is a handwriting against Paul, an obligation voluntarily accepted and signed.

It is of interest to note that Paul was able to pay Onesimus' debts. Every now and again we get glimpses which show that he was not without financial resources. Felix kept him prisoner for he had hopes of a bribe to let him go ( Acts 24:26); Paul was able to hire a house during his imprisonment in Rome ( Acts 28:30). It may well be that, if he had not chosen to live the life of a missionary of Christ, he might have lived a settled life of reasonable ease and comfort on his own resources. This may well have been another of the things which he gave up for Christ.

In Philemon 1:19-20 we hear Paul speaking with a flash of humour. "Philemon," he says, "you owe your soul to me, for it was I who brought you to Christ. Won't you let me make some profit out of you now?" With an affectionate smile Paul is saying, "Philemon, you got a lot out of me--let me get something out of you now!"

Philemon 1:21 is typical of Paul's dealings with people. It was his rule always to expect the best from others; he never really doubted that Philemon would grant his request. It is a good rule. To expect the best from others is often to be more than half-way to getting it; if we make it clear that we expect little, we will probably get just that.

In Philemon 1:22 there speaks Paul's optimism. Even in prison he believes it possible that through the prayers of his friends freedom may come again. He has changed his plans now. Before he was imprisoned it had been his intention to go to far off Spain ( Romans 15:24; Romans 15:28). Maybe after the years in prison, two at Caesarea and other two at Rome, Paul felt that he must leave the distant places to younger men and that for him, as he drew near the end, old friends were best.

In Philemon 1:23 there is a list of greetings from the same comrades as we meet in Colossians, and so there comes the blessing, and Philemon and Onesimus alike are commended to the grace of Christ.

-Barclay's Daily Study Bible (NT)

FURTHER READING

Philemon

J. B. Lightfoot, St Paul's Epistles to the Colossians and Philemon (MmC; G)

C. F. D. Moule, The Epistles of Paul the Apostle to the Colossians and to Philemon (CGT; G)

E. F. Scott, The Epistles to Colossians, Philemon and Ephesians (MC; E)

Abbreviations

CGT: Cambridge Greek Testament

ICC: International Critical Commentary

MC: Moffatt Commentary

TC: Tyndale Commentary

E: English Text

G: Greek Text

-Barclay's Daily Study Bible (NT)

Gann's Commentary on the Bible

Philemon 1:15

perhaps -- Paul was suggesting that God providentially ordered the overturning of the evil of Onesimus’ running away to produce eventual good (cf. Genesis 50:20; Romans 8:28). - MSB

departed -- RSV "was departed" His departure probably worked hardship.

you lost Onesimus -- (NLT) (literally he went away): This might be a euphemism for running away, in order not to mention Onesimus’s offense directly. - NLTSB

why he was parted from you -- The Greek verb is passive, without indicating any agent of the action explicitly expressed. - ESVSB

a time -- The time between Onesimus’ escape from Philemon and his return with Tychicus (Colossians 4:9) - FSB

a while -- Philemon’s temporary loss (for a little while is lit., “to an hour”) of his slave resulted in his having him returned permanently. Some slaves were able to stay undetected in large cities or isolated areas, never to be returned to their owners. - BKC

he was separated from you -- Paul de-emphasizes the reason behind Onesimus’s absence by using the passive voice, which encourages Philemon to see God as the agent and to attribute the absence to God’s mysterious purposes. God intended this separation for good (Genesis 50:20) so that they might be united forever. - NIVZSB [also Genesis 45:8)

receive him -- The Greek verb is often used of receiving payment; e.g. Matthew 6:2, Matthew 6:5, Matthew 6:16. We might almost paraphrase, “get him paid back”; as if he had been “lent to the Lord.” - CBSC

For ever -- for good. The words for good, which translate aiōnion (normally rendered “forever”), may mean either permanently in this life or forever in heaven.

Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible

For perhaps he therefore departed for a season,.... The apostle in this clause seems to soften this business of Onesimus in running away from his master; he calls it not a running away, but a departure, an absence from him, and that but for a little while; and suggests that the hand of God might be in it; that there was an overruling providence that attended it, such as was in Joseph's going down into Egypt; and that this separation of Onesimus from his master, for a short time, was in order that they should come together again, and never part more, as follows:

that thou shouldest receive him for ever; or during life, referring to the law in Exodus 21:6 or to all eternity, since they were in the same spiritual relation, partakers of the same grace, and had a right to the same heavenly inheritance, and should be together with Christ for evermore.

Light of Israel Bible Commentary

A SLAVE AS A DEAR BROTHER

I am sending him – who is my very heart – back to you. Philemon 1:12

The word for sending is the Greek anepempsa, and it has the technical and legal meaning of "referring the case" to another person.<footnote>Pfeiffer & Harrison, The Wycliffe Bible Commentary, p. 1398.</footnote> In reality, it was a legal matter that Paul was referring. In addition to the legal matter, it was also a heart matter for the apostle. He dearly loved Onesimus and could not conceive of being without him.

Nevertheless, Onesimus had to go back to his master and face what he had done. Barclay says, "Christianity is not out to help a man escape his past and run away from it; it is out to enable him face his past and rise above it."<footnote>Barclay, The Letters to Timothy, Titus, and Philemon, p. 318.</footnote> Christians cannot dodge civil relations and responsibilities. Just because we are now free in Christ we cannot shirk our new Christian responsibilities.

The Bible gives specific instructions to believing slaves and to their masters. Slaves are instructed to submit and obey (Ephesians 6:5; Colossians 3:22; 1 Peter 2:18). They are not to show disrespect to their masters (1 Timothy 6:2). They are not to obey only when their masters are looking but at all times (Ephesians 6:5-8). Masters are to treat slaves kindly (Ephesians 6:9) and they are to provide well for them (Colossians 4:1). We must note that there are some very good guidelines here for employer and employee relationships today.

Paul was especially careful in sending Onesimus back home. He was accompanied by Tychicus (Colossians 4:7-9). No doubt, this precaution was taken because he was a runaway slave and the slave-catchers would have been on the lookout for him.<footnote>Coffman, Commentary on Philemon, Coffman Commentaries on the Old and New Testament, v. 1:12.</footnote> They probably operated much like our bounty hunters do today. Of course, a slave also could be stolen. An average slave was worth about five hundred denarii and a denarius was a day's wage for a working man. Some slaves sold for a lot more if they were skilled or educated.<footnote>Wiersbe, The Wiersbe Bible Commentary, NT, p. 798.</footnote>

"I would have liked to keep him with me so that he could take your place in helping me while I am in chains for the gospel. But I did not want to do anything without your consent, so that any favor you do would not seem forced but would be voluntary" (1:13-14). Paul dearly wanted to keep Onesimus and we can sense that throughout this letter. Such a thing was possible in Roman law. Slaves could be formally assigned to another person for a period of time and this was not uncommon.<footnote>Barker & Kohlenberger, Zondervan NIV Bible Commentary,Vol. 2, p. 937.</footnote> Just as some slaves were assigned to work in the temple of certain gods and goddesses, Paul is asking that Philemon might free Onesimus to labor in the gospel.<footnote>Keener, The IVP Bible Background Commentary, New Testament, p. 646.</footnote> Onesimus had served as a good substitute for the ministry Philemon might have done for Paul, had he been in Rome.

"Perhaps the reason he was separated from you for a little while was that you might have him back forever – no longer as a slave, but better than a slave, as a dear brother. He is very dear to me but even dearer to you, both as a fellow man and as a brother in the Lord" (1:15-16). Paul is suggesting that there might have been a divine purpose in the escape of Onesimus. When he left he was not useful and now, because of Jesus, he is. He left as a slave but he returns as a brother in Christ. Philemon now would be both master and brother in the Lord.

Some have called this verse the heart of the epistle, for in it we get a clear picture of what Christianity has done for the world. Barclay sums it up saying, "What Christianity did was to introduce a new relationship between individuals in which all external differences were abolished. Christians are one body whether Jews or Gentiles, slaves or free…When a relationship like that enters into life, social grades and classes cease to matter."<footnote>Barclay, The Letters to Timothy, Titus, and Philemon, p. 306.</footnote>

Henry's Complete Commentary on the Bible

      8 Wherefore, though I might be much bold in Christ to enjoin thee that which is convenient,   9 Yet for love's sake I rather beseech thee, being such an one as Paul the aged, and now also a prisoner of Jesus Christ.   10 I beseech thee for my son Onesimus, whom I have begotten in my bonds:   11 Which in time past was to thee unprofitable, but now profitable to thee and to me:   12 Whom I have sent again: thou therefore receive him, that is, mine own bowels:   13 Whom I would have retained with me, that in thy stead he might have ministered unto me in the bonds of the gospel:   14 But without thy mind would I do nothing; that thy benefit should not be as it were of necessity, but willingly.   15 For perhaps he therefore departed for a season, that thou shouldest receive him for ever;   16 Not now as a servant, but above a servant, a brother beloved, specially to me, but how much more unto thee, both in the flesh, and in the Lord?   17 If thou count me therefore a partner, receive him as myself.   18 If he hath wronged thee, or oweth thee ought, put that on mine account;   19 I Paul have written 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.   20 Yea, brother, let me have joy of thee in the Lord: refresh my bowels in the Lord.   21 Having confidence in thy obedience I wrote unto thee, knowing that thou wilt also do more than I say.   22 But withal prepare me also a lodging: for I trust that through your prayers I shall be given unto you.   23 There salute thee Epaphras, my fellowprisoner in Christ Jesus;   24 Marcus, Aristarchus, Demas, Lucas, my fellowlabourers.   25 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit. Amen.

      We have here,

      I. The main business of the epistle, which was to plead with Philemon on behalf of Onesimus, that he would receive him and be reconciled to him. Many arguments Paul urges for this purpose, Philemon 1:8-21; Philemon 1:8-21. The

      1st Argument is taken from what was before noted, and is carried in the illative wherefore: "Seeing so much good is reported of thee and found in thee, especially thy love to all saints, now let me see it on a fresh and further occasion; refresh the bowels of Onesimus and mine also, in forgiving and receiving him, who is now a convert, and so a saint indeed, and meet for thy favour and love." Observe, A disposition to do good, together with past instances and expressions of it, is a good handle to take hold of for pressing to more. "Be not weary of well-doing, go on as thou art able, and as new objects and occasions occur, to do the same still." The

      2nd Argument is from the authority of him that was now making this request to him: I might be very bold in Christ to enjoin thee that which is convenient,Philemon 1:8; Philemon 1:8. The apostles had under Christ great power in the church over the ordinary ministers, as well as the members of it, for edification; they might require of them what was fit, and were therein to be obeyed, which Philemon should consider. This was a matter within the compass of the apostle's power to require, though he would not in this instance act up to it. Observe, Ministers, whatever their power be in the church, are to use prudence in the exercise of it; they may not unseasonably, nor further than is requisite, put it forth; in all they must use godly wisdom and discretion. Wherefore this may be a

      3rd Argument, Waiving the authority which yet he had to require, he chooses to entreat it of him (Philemon 1:9; Philemon 1:9): Yet for love's sake I rather beseech thee. Observe, It is no disparagement for those who have power to be condescending, and sometimes even to beseech, where, in strictness of right, they might command; so does Paul here, though an apostle: he entreats where he might enjoin, he argues from love rather than authority, which doubtless must carry engaging influence with it. And especially, which may be a

      4th Argument, When any circumstance of the person pleading gives additional force to his petition, as here: Being such a one as Paul the aged, and now also a prisoner of Jesus Christ. Years bespeak respect; and the motions of such, in things lawful and fit, should be received with regard. The request of an aged apostle, and now suffering for Christ and his gospel, should be tenderly considered. "If thou wilt do any thing for a poor aged prisoner, to comfort me in my bonds, and make my chain lighter, grant me this which I desire: hereby in a manner you will do honour to Christ in the person of an aged suffering servant of his, which doubtless he will take as done to himself." He makes also a

      5th Argument, From the spiritual relation now between Onesimus and himself: I beseech thee for my son Onesimus, whom I have begotten in my bonds,Philemon 1:10; Philemon 1:10. "Though of right and in a civil respect he by thy servant, yet in a spiritual sense he is now a son to me, God having made me the instrument of his conversion, even here, where I am a prisoner for Christ's sake." Thus does God sometimes honour and comfort his suffering servants, not only working good in themselves by their sufferings, exercising and improving thereby their own graces, but making them a means of much spiritual good to others, either of their conversion, as of Onesimus here, or of their confirmation and strengthening, as Philippians 1:14, Many brethren, waxing confident by my bonds, are much more bold to speak the word of the Lord without fear. When God's servants are bound, yet his word and Spirit are not bound; spiritual children may then be born to them. The apostle lays an emphasis here: My son, whom I have begotten in my bonds; he was dear to him, and he hoped would be so to Philemon, under this consideration. Prison-mercies are sweet and much set by. Paul makes an argument to Philemon from this dear relation that now was between Onesimus and him, his son begotten in his bonds. And a

      6th Argument is from Philemon's own interest: Who in time past was to thee unprofitable, but now profitable to thee and to me,Philemon 1:11; Philemon 1:11. Observe, (1.) Unsanctified persons are unprofitable persons; they answer not the great end of their being and relations. Grace makes good for somewhat: "In time past unprofitable, but now profitable, inclined and fitted to be so, and will be so to thee, his master, if thou receive him, as he has since his conversion been here to me, ministering to me in my confinement." There seems an allusion to the name Onesimus, which signifies profitable. Now he will answer to his name. It may be noted also how the apostle speaks in this matter, not as Onesimus's former case and conduct might warrant; he had wronged his master, and ran away from him, and lived as if he were his own and not his; yet as God covers the sins of penitents, forgives and does not upbraid, so should men. How tenderly does Paul here speak! Not that Onesimus's sin was small, nor that he would have any, much less himself, to take it so; but having been humbled for it, and doubtless taken shame to himself on account thereof, the apostle now would not sink his spirit by continuing to load and burden him therewith, but speaks thus tenderly when he is pleading with Philemon not to make severe reflections on his servant's misconduct, but to forgive. (2.) What happy changes conversion makes--of evil good! of unprofitable useful! Religious servants are a treasure in a family. Such will make conscience of their time and trusts, promoting the interests of those whom they serve, and managing all they can for the best. This then is the argument here urged: "It will now be for thy advantage to receive him: thus changed, as he is, thou mayest expect him to be a dutiful and faithful servant, though in time past he was not so." Whereupon,

      7th Argument, He urges Philemon from the strong affection that he had to Onesimus. He had mentioned the spiritual relation before, My son begotten in my bonds; and now he signifies how dear he was to him: Thou therefore receive him, that is my own bowels,Philemon 1:12; Philemon 1:12. "I love him as I do myself, and have sent him back to thee for this end, that thou shouldst receive him; do it therefore for my sake, receive him as one thus dear to me." Observe, Even good men may sometimes need great earnestness and entreaty to lay their passions, let go their resentments, and forgive those who have injured and offended them. Some have thought it to look this way, when Paul is so pathetic and earnest, mustering up so many pleas and arguments to gain what he requests. Philemon, a Phrygian, might perhaps be naturally of a rough and difficult temper, and thence need no little pains in touching all the springs that might move him to forgiveness and reconciliation; but rather should we strive to be like God, who is slow to anger, ready to forgive, and abundant in pardons. And again, an

      8th Argument is from the apostle's denying himself in sending back Onesimus: though he might have presumed upon Philemon's leave to detain him longer, yet he would not, Philemon 1:13; Philemon 1:14. Paul was now in prison, and wanted a friend or servant to act for him, and assist him, for which he found Onesimus fit and ready, and therefore would have detained him to minister to him, instead of Philemon himself, whom if he had requested to have come to him in person for such purpose, he might have presumed he would not have refused; much less might he have reckoned that he would be unwilling his servant should do this in his stead; yet he would not take this liberty, though his circumstances needed it: I have sent him back to thee, that any good office of thine to me might not be of necessity, but willingly. Observe, Good deeds are most acceptable to God and man when done with most freedom. And Paul herein, notwithstanding his apostolical power, would show what regard he had to civil rights, which Christianity does by no means supersede or weaken, but rather confirm and strengthen. Onesimus, he knew, was Philemon's servant, and therefore without his consent not to be detained from him. In his unconverted state he had violated that right, and withdrawn himself, to his master's injury; but, now that he had seen his sin and repented, he was willing and desirous to return to his duty, and Paul would not hinder this, but rather further it. He might indeed have presumed on Philemon's willingness; but, but notwithstanding his need, he would deny himself rather than take that way. And he further urges,

      9th Argument, That such a change was now wrought in Onesimus that Philemon needed not fear his ever running from him, or injuring him any more: For perhaps he therefore departed for a season, that thou shouldest receive him for ever,Philemon 1:15; Philemon 1:15. There are those of whom Solomon says, If thou deliver them, thou must do it again (Proverbs 19:19); but the change wrought in Onesimus was such that he would never again need one thus to intercede for him. Charity would so hope and judge, yea, so it would be; yet the apostle speaks cautiously, that none might be bold to make another such experiment in expectation of a like gracious issue. Observe, (1.) In matters that may be wrested to ill, ministers must speak warily, that kind providences of God towards sinners be not abused to encouragements to sin, or abatements of just abhorrence of it: Perhaps he therefore departed from thee for a season, c. (2.) How tenderly still the sins of penitents are spoken of he calls it a departure for a season, instead of giving it the term that it deserved. As overruled and ordered by God, it was a departure; but in itself, and in respect of the disposition and manner of the act, it was a criminal going away. When we speak of the nature of any sin or offence against God, the evil of it is not to be lessened; but in the person of a penitent sinner, as God covers it, so must we: "He departed for a season, that thou shouldst receive him for ever, that upon conversion he may return, and be a faithful and useful servant to thee as long as he lives." Bray a fool in a mortar, yet will not his folly depart from him. But it is not so with true penitents: they will not return to folly. (3.) Observe the wisdom, and goodness, and power of God, in causing that to end so happily which was begun and carried on for some time so wickedly, thus regarding a poor vassal, one of such low rank and condition and so little regarded by men, working so good and great a change in him who was so far gone in evil ways, who had wronged a master so good, had run from a family so pious, from the means of grace, the church in his house, that he should be led into the way of salvation who had fled from it, and find means made effectual at Rome who had been hardened under them at Colosse. What riches are here of divine grace! None so low, nor mean, nor vile, as utterly to be despaired of. God can meet with them when running from him; can make means effectual at one time and place, which have not been so at another. So was it in this instance of Onesimus; having returned to God, he now returns to his master, who will have more service and better hold of him than ever--by conscience of his duty and faithfulness in it to his life's end; his interest therefore it will be now to receive him. So God often brings gain to his people out of their losses. And, besides interest, a

      10th Argument is taken from the capacity under which Onesimus now would return, and must be received by Philemon (Philemon 1:16; Philemon 1:16): "Not now as a servant (that is, not merely or so much), but above a servant (in a spiritual respect), a brother beloved, one to be owned as a brother in Christ, and to be beloved as such, upon account of this holy change that is wrought in him, and one therefore who will be useful unto thee upon better principles and in a better manner than before, who will love and promote the best things in thy family, be a blessing in it, and help to keep up the church that is in thy house." Observe, (1.) There is a spiritual brotherhood between all true believers, however distinguished in civil and outward respects; they are all children of the same heavenly Father, have a right to the same spiritual privileges and benefits, must love and do all good offices to and for one another as brethren, though still in the same rank, and degree, and station, wherein they were called. Christianity does not annul nor confound the respective civil duties, but strengthens the obligation to them, and directs to a right discharge of them. (2.) Religious servants are more than mere ordinary servants; they have grace in their hearts, and have found grace in God's sight, and so will in the sight of religious masters. Psalms 101:6, Mine eyes are upon the faithful of the land, that they may dwell with me. He that walketh in a perfect way, he shall serve me. "Onesimus having now become such, receive and regard him as one that is partaker of the same common faith, and so a brother beloved, specially to me who have been the instrument of his conversion." Good ministers love not so much according to the outward good which they receive as the spiritual good which they do. Paul called Onesimus his own bowels, and other converts his joy and crown. "A brother beloved, specially to me, but how much more to thee, both in the flesh and in the Lord; by a double tie therefore (both civil and religious) thy servant: thy property, one of thy house and family, and now, in a spiritual respect, thy brother in Christ, which heightens the engagement. He is God's servant and thine too; here are more ties than he is under to me. How readily therefore should he be received and loved by thee, as one of thy family and one of the true faith, one of thy house and one of the church in thy house!" This argument is strengthened by another, the

      11th Argument, From the communion of saints: If thou count me therefore a partner, receive him as myself,Philemon 1:17; Philemon 1:17. There is a fellowship among saints; they have interest one in another, and must love and act accordingly. "Now show thy love to me, and the interest I have in thee, by loving and receiving one so near and dear to me, even as myself; own and treat him as thou wouldst me, with a like ready and true, though perhaps not equal, affection." But why such concern and earnestness for a servant, a slave, and such a one as had misbehaved? Answer, Onesimus being now penitent, it was doubtless to encourage him, and to support him against the fears he might have in returning to a master whom he had so much abused and wronged, to keep him from sinking into despondency and dejection, and encourage him to his duty. Wise and good ministers will have great and tender care of young converts, to encourage and hearten them what they can to and in their duty. Objection, But Onesimus had wronged as well as offended his master. The answer to this makes a

      12th Argument, A promise of satisfaction to Philemon: If he hath wronged thee, or oweth thee aught, c., Philemon 1:18; Philemon 1:19. Here are three things:

      (1.) A confession of Onesimus's debt to Philemon: If he hath wronged thee, or oweth thee aught. It is not an if of doubting, but of illation and concession; seeing he hath wronged thee, and thereby has become indebted to thee; such an if as Colossians 3:1; 2 Peter 2:4, c. Observe, True penitents will be ingenuous in owning their faults, as doubtless Onesimus had been to Paul, upon his being awakened and being brought to repentance and especially is this to be done in cases of injury to others. Onesimus by Paul owns the wrong. And,

      (2.) Paul here engages for satisfaction: Put that on my account; I Paul have written it with my own hand, I will repay it. Observe, [1.] The communion of saints does not destroy distinction of property: Onesimus, now converted, and become a brother beloved, is yet Philemon's servant still, and indebted to him for wrongs that he had done, and not to be discharged but by free and voluntary remission, or on reparation made by himself, or some other in his behalf, which part, rather than fail, the apostle undertakes for him. [2.] Suretiship is not in all cases unlawful, but in some is a good and merciful undertaking. Only know the person and case, be not surety for a stranger (Proverbs 11:15), and go not beyond ability; help thy friend thou mayest, as far as will comport with justice and prudence. And how happy for us that Christ would be made the surety of a better covenant (Hebrews 7:22), that he would be made sin for us who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him! And, [3.] Formal securities by writing, as well as by word and promise, may be required and given. Persons die, and words may be forgotten or mistaken; writing better preserves right and peace, and has been in use with good persons, as well as others, in all ages, Jeremiah 32:9; Luke 16:5-7. It was much that Paul, who lived on contributions himself, would undertake to make good all loss by an evil servant to his master; but hereby he expresses his real and great affection for Onesimus, and his full belief of the sincerity of his conversion: and he might have hope that, notwithstanding this generous offer, Philemon would not insist on it, but freely remit all, considering,

      (3.) The reason of things between him and Philemon: "Albeit, I do not say to thee how thou owest unto me even thy own self besides; thou wilt remember, without my reminding thee, that thou are on other accounts more in debt to me than this comes to." Modesty in self-praises is true praise. The apostle glances at the benefits he had conferred on Philemon: "That thou art any thing in grace and acceptation with God, or enjoyest any thing in a right and comfortable manner, it is, under God, owing to my ministry. I have been the instrument in his hand of all that spiritual good to thee; and what thy obligation to me on this account is I leave to thee to consider. Thy forgiving a pecuniary debt to a poor penitent for my sake and at my request, and which, however, I now take upon myself to answer, thy remitting it to him, or to me, now his surety, thou wilt confess, is not so great a thing; here is more per contra: Thou owest to me even thy ownself besides." Observe, How great the endearments are between ministers and those towards whom their endeavours have been blessed to their conversion or spiritual edification! If it had been possible (said Paul to the Galatians), you would have plucked out your own eyes, and have given them to me,Galatians 4:15. On the other hand he calls them his children, of whom he travailed again, till Christ was formed in them, that is, the likeness of Christ more fully. So 1 Thessalonians 2:8, We were willing to have imparted to you not the gospel of God only, but also our own souls, because you were dear unto us. By way of allusion, this may illustrate Christ's undertaking for us. We had revolted from God, and by sin had wronged him, but Christ undertakes to make satisfaction, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us unto God. "If the sinner owes thee aught, put it upon my account, I will pay the debt; let his iniquity be laid on me, I will bear the penalty." Further, a

      13th Argument is from the joy and comfort the apostle hereby would have on Philemon's own account, as well as on Onesimus's in such a seasonable and acceptable fruit of Philemon's faith and obedience: Yea, brother, let me have joy of thee in the Lord: refresh my bowels in the Lord,Philemon 1:20; Philemon 1:20. Philemon was Paul's son in the faith, yet he entreats him as a brother; Onesimus a poor slave, yet he solicits for him as if he were seeking some great thing for himself. How pathetic is he! "Yea, brother, or O my brother (it is an adverb of wishing or desiring), let me have joy of thee in the Lord. Thou knowest that I am now a prisoner or the Lord, for his sake and cause, and need all the comfort and support that my friends in Christ can give me: now this will be a joy to me, I shall have joy of thee in the Lord, as seeing such an evidence and fruit of thy own Christian faith and love, and on Onesimus's account, who hereby will be relieved and encouraged." Observe, (1.) Christians should do the things that may rejoice the hearts of one another, both people and minister reciprocally, and ministers of their brethren. From the world they expect trouble; and where may they look for comfort and joy but in one another? (2.) Fruits of faith and obedience in people are the minister's greatest joy, especially the more of love appears in them to Christ and his members, forgiving injuries, showing compassion, being merciful as their heavenly Father is merciful. "Refresh my bowels in the Lord. It is not any carnal selfish respect I am actuated by, but what is pleasing to Christ, and that he may have honour therein." Observe, [1.] The Lord's honour and service are a Christian's chief aim in all things. And, [2.] It is meat and drink to a good minister to see people ready and zealous in what is good, especially in acts of charity and beneficence, as occasions occur, forgiving injuries, remitting somewhat of their right, and the like. And, once more, his last, which is the

      14th Argument, Lies in the good hope and opinion which he expresses of Philemon: Having confidence in thy obedience, I wrote unto thee, knowing that thou wilt also do more than I say,Philemon 1:21; Philemon 1:21. Good thoughts and expectations of us more strongly move and engage us to do the things expected from us. The apostle knew Philemon to be a good man, and was thence persuaded of his readiness to do good, and that not in a scanty and niggardly manner, but with a free and liberal hand. Observe, Good persons will be ready for good works, and not narrow and pinching, but abundant in them. Isaiah 32:8, The liberal deviseth liberal things. The Macedonians first gave themselves to the Lord, and then to his apostles by the will of God, to do what good they could with what they had, according as occasions offered.

      Thus far is the substance and body of the epistle. We have,

      II. The conclusion, where,

      1. He signifies his good hope of deliverance, through their prayers, and that shortly he might see them, desiring Philemon to make provision for him: But withal prepare me also a lodging; for I trust that through your prayers I shall be given unto you,Philemon 1:22; Philemon 1:22. But withal, or moreover. He comes to another thing, yet, as may seem, not without some eye to the matter which he had been upon, that might be furthered by this intimation that he hoped he should himself soon follow, and know the effect of his epistle, which Philemon would therefore be the more stirred up to see might be to his satisfaction. Now here is,

      (1.) The thing requested: Prepare me also a lodging; under this all necessaries for a stranger are included. He wills Philemon to do it, intending to be his guest, as most to his purpose. Observe, Hospitality is a great Christian duty, especially in ministers, and towards ministers, such as the apostle was, coming out of such dangers and sufferings for Christ and his gospel. Who would not show the utmost of affectionate regards to such a one? It is an honourable title that he gives Gaius (Romans 16:23), My host, and of the whole church. Onesiphorus is also affectionately remembered by the apostle on this account (2 Timothy 1:16; 2 Timothy 1:18), The Lord give mercy to the house of Onesiphorus; for he oft refreshed me, and was not ashamed of my chain; and in how many things he ministered to me at Ephesus, thou knowest.

      (2.) Here is the ground of the apostle's request: For I trust that through your prayers I shall be given unto you. He did not know how God might deal with him, but the benefit of prayer he had often found, and hoped he should again, for deliverance, and liberty to come to them. Observe, [1.] Our dependence is on God for life and liberty and opportunity of service; all is by divine pleasure. [2.] When abridged of these or any other mercies, our trust and hope must be in God, without fainting or succumbing, while our case is depending. But yet, [3.] Trust must be with the use of means, prayer especially, though no other should be at hand; this hath unlocked heaven and opened prison-doors. The fervent effectual prayer of the righteous availeth much. [4.] Prayer of people for ministers, especially when they are in distress and danger, is their great duty; ministers need and request it. Paul, though an apostle, did so with much earnestness, Philemon 1:15; Philemon 1:30; 2 Corinthians 1:11; Ephesians 6:18; Ephesians 6:19; 1 Thessalonians 5:25. The least may in this way be helpful to the greatest. Yet, [5.] Though prayer obtains, yet it does not merit the things obtained: they are God's gift, and Christ's purchase. I trust that through your prayers, charisthesomai hymin--I shall be freely bestowed on you. What God gives, he will yet be sought to for, that mercies may be valued the more, and known whence they come, and God may have the praise. Minister's lives and labours are for the people's good; the office was set up for them; he gave gifts for men, apostles, c. Ephesians 4:8; Ephesians 4:11; Ephesians 4:12. Their gifts, and labours, and lives, all are for their benefit. 1 Corinthians 3:21; 1 Corinthians 3:22, All things are yours, Apollos, Cephas, c. [6.] In praying for faithful ministers, people in effect pray for themselves: "I trust I shall be given unto you, for your service, and comfort, and edification in Christ." See 2 Corinthians 4:15. [7.] Observe the humility of the apostle his liberty, should he have it, he would own to be through their prayers, as well as, or more than, his own; he mentions them only through the high thoughts he had of the prayers of many, and the regard God would show to his praying people. Thus of the first thing in the apostle's conclusion.

      2. he sends salutations from one who was his fellow-prisoner, and four more who were his fellow-labourers, Philemon 1:23; Philemon 1:24. Saluting is wishing health and peace. Christianity is no enemy to courtesy, but enjoins it, 1 Peter 3:8. It is a mere expression of love and respect, and a means of preserving and nourishing them. There salute thee Epaphras, my fellow-prisoner in Christ Jesus. he was of Colosse, and so countryman and fellow-citizen with Philemon; by office he seems to have been an evangelist, who laboured among the Colossians (if he was not the first converter of them), for whom he had special affection. Our dear fellow-servant (said St. Paul), and for you a faithful minister of Christ (Colossians 1:7), and ( Colossians 4:12; Colossians 4:13), A servant of Christ, always labouring for you in prayers. I bear him record that he hath a great zeal for you, c. A very eminent person therefore this was, who, being at Rome, perhaps accompanying Paul, and labouring in the same work of preaching and propagating the gospel, was confined in the same prison, and for the same cause both termed prisoners in Christ Jesus, intimating the ground of their imprisonment, not any crime or wickedness, but for the faith of Christ and their service to him. An honour it is to suffer shame for Christ's name. My fellow-prisoner in Christ Jesus is mentioned as his glory and the apostle's comfort; not that he was a prisoner and so hindered from his work (this was matter of affliction), but that, seeing God thus permitted and called him to suffer, his providence so ordered it that they suffered together, and so had the benefit and comfort of one another's prayers, and help, it may be, in some things; this was a mercy. So God sometimes lightens the sufferings of his servants by the communion of saints, the sweet fellowship they have one with another in their bonds. Never more enjoyment of God have they found than when suffering together for God. So Paul and Silas, when their feet were fast in the stocks, had their tongues set at liberty, and their hearts tuned for the praises of God.--Marcus, Aristarchus, Demas, Lucas, my fellow-labourers. The mention of these seems in a manner to interest them in the business of the latter. How ill would it look by denial of the request of it to slight so many worthy names as most of these, at least, were! Marcus, cousin of Barnabas, and son of Mary, who was so hospitable to the saints at Jerusalem (Colossians 4:10; Acts 12:12), and whose house was the place of meeting for prayer and the worship of God. Though some failing seems to have been in him when Paul and he parted, yet in conjunction with Barnabas he went on with his work, and here Paul and he, we perceive, were reconciled, and differences forgotten, 2 Timothy 4:11. He bids Mark to be brought to him, for he is profitable to me for the ministry, that is, of an evangelist. Aristarchus is mentioned with Marcus (Colossians 4:10), and called there by Paul his fellow-prisoner; and speaking there of Marcus, sister's son to Barnabas, he adds, Touching whom you received commandments; if he come unto you, receive him: an evidence that he himself had received him, and was reconciled to him. Next is Demas, who hitherto, it seems, appeared not faulty, though he is censured (2 Timothy 4:10) as having forsaken Paul, from love of this present world. But how far his forsaking was, whether total from his work and profession, or partial only, and whether he repented and returned to his duty, scripture is silent, and so much we be: no mark of disgrace lay on him here, but he is joined with others who were faithful, as he is also in Colossians 4:14. Lucas is the last, that beloved physician and evangelist, who came to Rome, companion with Paul, Colossians 4:14; 2 Timothy 4:11. He was Paul's associate in his greatest dangers, and his fellow-labourer. The ministry is not a matter of carnal ease nor pleasure, but of pains; if any are idle in it, they answer not their calling. Christ bids his disciples pray the Lord of the harvest to send forth labourers, not loiterers, into his harvest,Matthew 9:38. And the people are extorted to know those that labour among them, and are over them in the Lord, and to esteem them very highly in love for their work's sake,1 Thessalonians 5:12; 1 Thessalonians 5:13. My fellow-labourers, says the apostle: ministers must be helpers together of the truth; they serve the same Lord, in the same holy work and function, and are expectants of the same glorious reward; therefore they must be assistants to each other in furthering the interest of their great and common Master. Thus of the salutations, and then,

      3. Here is the apostle's closing prayer and benediction, Philemon 1:25; Philemon 1:25. Observe, (1.) What is wished and prayed for: Grace, the free favour and love of God, together with the fruits and effects of it in all good things, for soul and body, for time and eternity. Observe, Grace is the best wish for ourselves and others; with this the apostle begins and ends. (2.) From whom: Our Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, second Person in the Trinity, Lord by natural right, by whom, and for whom, all things were created (Colossians 1:16; John 1:1-3), and who is heir of all things, and, as God-man and Mediator, who purchased us, and to whom we are given by the Father. Jesus, the Saviour, Matthew 1:21. We were lost and undone; he recovers us, and repairs the ruin. He saves by merit, procuring pardon and life for us; and by power, rescuing us from sin, and Satan, and hell, and renewing us to the likeness, and bringing us to the enjoyment, of God: thus is he Jesus; and Christ, the Messiah or anointed, consecrated and fitted to be king, priest, and prophet, to his church. To all those offices were there anointings under the law with oil, and to them was the Saviour spiritually anointed with the Holy Ghost, Acts 10:38. In none but him were all these together and in such eminence. He was anointed with the oil of gladness above his fellows,Psalms 45:7. This Lord Jesus Christ is ours by original title to us, by gospel offers and gift, his purchase of us, and our own acceptance of him, resignation to him, and mystical union with him: Our Lord Jesus Christ. Observe, All grace to us is from Christ; he purchased, and he bestows it. Of his fulness we all receive, and grace for grace,John 1:16. He filleth all in all,Ephesians 1:23. (3.) To whom: Your spirit, meta tou pneumatos hymon, not of Philemon only, but of all who were named in the inscription. With your spirit, that is, with you, the soul or spirit being the immediate seat of grace, whence it influences the whole man, and flows out in gracious and holy actings. All the house saluted are here joined in the closing benediction, the more to remind and quicken all to further the end of the epistle.

      Amen is added, not only for strong and affectionate summing up the prayer and wish, so let it be; but as an expression of faith that it will be heard, so shall it be. And what need we more to make us happy than to have the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ with our spirit? This is the usual benediction, but it may be taken here to have some special respect also to the occasion; the grace of Christ with their spirits, Philemon's especially, would sweeten and mollify them, take off too deep and keen resentments of injuries, and dispose to forgive others as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven us.

Spurgeon's Verse Expositions of the Bible

THE STORY OF A RUNAWAY SLAVE

NO. 1268

DELIVERED BY C. H. SPURGEON, AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON.

“Perhaps he therefore departed for a season, that you should receive him forever.” Philemon 1:15 .

NATURE is selfish but Grace is loving. He who boasts that he cares for nobody and nobody cares for him, is the reverse of a Christian, for Jesus Christ enlarges the heart when He cleanses it. None so tender and sympathetic as our Master and if we are truly His disciples, the same mind will be in us which was also in Christ Jesus. The Apostle Paul was eminently large-hearted and sympathetic. Surely he had enough to do at Rome to bear his own troubles and to preach the Gospel. If, like the priest in the parable of the good Samaritan, he had, “passed by on the other side,” he might have been excused, for he was on the urgent business of that Master who once said to His 70 messengers, “Salute no man by the way.”

We might not have wondered if Paul had said, “I cannot find time to attend to the needs of a runaway slave.” But Paul was not of that mind. He had been preaching and Onesimus had been converted and from now on he regarded him as his own son. I do not know why Onesimus came to Paul. Perhaps he went to him as a great many scapegraces have come to me because their fathers knew me. And so, as Onesimus’ master had known Paul, the servant applied to his master’s friend, perhaps to beg some little help in his extremity. Anyway, Paul seized the opportunity and preached Jesus to him and the runaway slave became a Believer in the Lord Jesus Christ!

Paul watched him, admired the character of his convert and was glad to be served by him. And when Paul thought it right that he should return to his master, Philemon, he took a deal of trouble to compose a letter of apology for him, a letter which shows long thinking, since every word is well selected. Although the Holy Spirit dictated it, Inspiration does not prevent a man’s exercising thought and care on what he writes. Every word is chosen for a purpose. If he had been pleading for himself, he could not have pleaded more earnestly or wisely. Paul, as you know, was not accustomed to write letters with his own hand, but dictated to a secretary.

It is supposed that he had an affection of the eyes and, therefore, when he did write, he used large capital letters, as he says in one of the Epistles, “You see how large a letter I have written unto you with my own hand.” The Epistle was not a large one, but he probably alluded to the largeness of the characters which he was obliged to use whenever he, himself, wrote. This letter to Philemon, at least part of it, was not dictated, but was written by his own hand. See the 19 th verse. “I, Paul, have written it with my own hand. I will repay it.” It is the only note of hand which I recall in Scripture, but there it is an I O U for whatever amount Onesimus may have stolen!

Let us cultivate a large-hearted spirit and sympathize with the people of God, especially with new converts, if we find them in trouble through past wrongdoing. If anything needs setting right, do not let us condemn them off-hand and say, “You have been stealing from your master, have you? You profess to be converted, but we do not believe it.” Such suspicious and severe treatment may be deserved, but it is not such as the love of Christ would suggest. Try and set the fallen ones right and give them again, as we say, “a fair start in the world.” If God has forgiven them, surely we may, and if Jesus Christ has received them, they cannot be too bad for us to receive! Let us do for them what Jesus would have done had He been here so shall we truly be the disciples of Jesus.

Thus I introduce to you the text, and I notice concerning it, first, that it contains a singular instance of Divine Grace . Secondly, it brings before us a case of sin overruled . And, thirdly, it may be regarded as an example of relationship improved by Grace , for now he that was a servant for a season will abide with Philemon all his lifetime and be no more a servant, but a beloved Brother in Christ.

I. But, first, let us look at Onesimus as AN INSTANCE OF DIVINE GRACE. We see the Grace of God in his election . He was a slave. In those days slaves were very ignorant, untaught and degraded. Being barbarously used, they were for the most part, themselves sunk in the lowest barbarism. Neither did their masters attempt to raise them out of it. It is possible that Philemon’s attempt to do good to Onesimus may have been irksome to the man and he may, therefore, have fled from his house. His master’s prayers, warnings and Christian regulations may have been disagreeable to him and therefore he ran away.

He wronged his master, which he would scarcely have done if he had not been treated as a confidential servant to some extent. Possibly the unusual kindness of Philemon and the trust reposed in him may have been too much for his untrained nature. We know not what he stole, but evidently he had taken something , for the Apostle says, “If he has wronged you, or owes you anything, put that on my account.” He ran away from Colosse, therefore, and thinking that he would be less likely to be discovered by the ministers of justice, he sought the city of Rome which was, then, as large as the city of London is now, and perhaps larger.

There, in those back slums, such as the Jews’ quarter in Rome now is, Onesimus would go and hide. Or among those gangs of thieves which infested the imperial city, he would not be known or heard of any more, so he thought and he could live the free and easy life of a thief. Yet, mark you, the Lord looked out of Heaven with an eye of love and set that eye on Onesimus! Were there no free men , that God must elect a slave ? Were there no faithful servants, that He must choose one who had embezzled his master’s money? Were there none of the educated and polite, that He must look upon a barbarian? Were there none among the moral and the excellent that Infinite Love should fix itself upon this degraded being who was now mixed up with the very scum of society?

And what the scum of society was in old Rome I should not like to think, for the upper classes were about as brutalized in their general habits as we can very well conceive! What the lowest scum of all must have been, none of us can tell. Onesimus was part and parcel of the dregs of a sink of sin. Read Paul’s first chapter of the Epistle to the Romans, if you can, and you will see in what a horrible state the heathen world was, at that time. And Onesimus was among the worst of the worst! And yet Eternal Love, which passed by kings and princes and left Pharisees and Sadducees, philosophers and magi to stumble in the dark as they chose, fixed its eyes upon this poor benighted creature that he might be made a vessel to honor, fit for the Master’s use!

“When the Eternal bows the skies To visit earthly things, With scorn Divine He turns His eyes From towersof haughty kings. He bids His awful chariot roll Far downward from the skies, To visit every humble soul, With pleasureinHis eyes. Why should the Lord thatreigns above Disdain so lofty kings? Say, Lord, and why such looks of love Upon such worthless things? Mortals are dumb; what creature dares Dispute His awful will? Ask no account of His affairs, But tremble and be still. Just like His nature is His Grace, All sovereign, and all free Great God, how searchless are Your ways How deep your judgments be!”

“I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion,” rolls like thunder from the Cross of Calvary and from the Mount of Sinai. The Lord is Sovereign and does as He pleases. Let us admire that marvelous electing love which selected such a one as Onesimus!

Grace, also, is to be observed, in the next place, in the conversion of this runaway slave. Look at him! How unlikely he appears to become a convert. He is an Asiatic slave of about the same grade as an ordinary Lascar, or heathen Chinese. He was, however, worse than the ordinary Lascar who is certainly free and probably an honest man, if he is nothing else. This man had been dishonest and he was daring, for after taking his master’s property he was bold enough to make a long journey from Colosse to reach Rome. But Everlasting Love means to convert the man and converted he shall be!

He may have heard Paul preach at Colosse and Athens, but yet he had not been impressed. In Rome, Paul was not preaching in St. Peter’s it was in no such noble building! Paul was not preaching in a place like the Tabernacle, where Onesimus could have a comfortable seat no such place as that but it was probably down there at the back of the Palatine Hill, where the praetorian guard have their lodgings and where there was a prison called the Praetorian. In a bare room in the barrack prison Paul sat with a soldier chained to his hand, preaching to all who were admitted to hear him and there it was that the Grace of God reached the heart of this wild young man, and, oh, what an immediate change it made in him!

Now you see him repenting of his sin, grieved to think he has wronged a good man, vexed to see the depravity of his heart as well as the error of his life. He weeps. Paul preaches to him Christ crucified and the glance of joy is in his eye and from that heavy heart a load is taken! New thoughts light up that dark mind! The very face is changed and the entire man renewed, for the Grace of God can turn a lion into a lamb, the raven into a dove! Some of us, I have no doubt, are quite as wonderful instances of Divine election and effectual calling as Onesimus was. Let us, therefore, record the lovingkindness of the Lord and let us say to ourselves, “Christ shall have the glory of it. The Lord has done it and unto the Lord be honor, world without end.”

The Grace of God was conspicuous in the character which it worked in Onesimus upon his conversion, for he appears to have been helpful, useful and profitable. So Paul says. Paul was willing to have had him as an associate and it is not every man that is converted that we should altogether choose as a companion. There are odd people to be met with who will go to Heaven, we have no doubt, for they are pilgrims on the right way. But we would like to keep on the other side of the road, for they are cross-grained and there is a something about them that one’s nature can no more delight in than the palate can take pleasure in nauseous medicine. They are a sort of spiritual hedgehogs they are alive and useful and, no doubt, they illustrate the wisdom and patience of God but they are not good companions. One would not like to carry them in his bosom.

But Onesimus was evidently of a kind, tender, loving spirit. Paul at once called him Brother and would have liked to retain him. When he sent him back, was it not a clear proof of a change of heart in Onesimus that he would go back? Away as he was in Rome, he might have passed on from one town to another and have remained perfectly free. But feeling that he was under some kind of bond to his master especially since he had injured him he takes Paul’s advice to return to his old position. He will go back and take a letter of apology or introduction to his master, for he knows that it is his duty to make reparation for the wrong that he has done.

I always like to see a resolve to make restitution of former wrongs in people who profess to be converted. If they have taken any money wrongfully, they ought to repay it. It were well if they returned sevenfold. If we have, in any way, robbed or wronged another, I think the first instincts of Grace in the heart will suggest compensation in all ways within our power. Do not think it is to be got over by saying, “God has forgiven me and, therefore, I may leave it.” No, dear Friend, but inasmuch as God has forgiven you, try to undo all the wrong and prove the sincerity of your repentance by so doing.

So Onesimus will go back to Philemon and work out his term of years with him, or otherwise do Philemon’s wishes, for though he might have preferred to wait upon Paul, his first duty was due to the man whom he had injured. That showed a gentle, humble, honest, upright spirit and let Onesimus be commended for it no, let the Grace of God be extolled for it! Look at the difference between the man who robbed and the man who now comes back to be profitable to his master. What wonders the Grace of God has done! Brethren, let me add what wonders the Grace of God can do! Many plans are employed in the world for the reformation of the wicked and the reclaiming of the fallen and to every one of these, as far as they are rightly bottomed, we wish good success for whatever things are lovely and pure, and of good report, we wish them God speed.

But mark this word the true reforming of the drunk lies in giving him a new heart ! The true reclaiming of the harlot is to be found in a renewed nature ! Purity will never come to fallen women by those hideous Contagious Diseases Acts, which, to my mind, wear, like Cain, a curse upon their forehead! Womanhood will but sink lower under such laws. The harlot must be washed in the Savior’s blood or she will never be clean! The lowest strata of society will never be brought into the light of virtue, sobriety and purity except by Jesus Christ and His Gospel and we must stick to that. Let all others do what they like, but God forbid that I should glory save in the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ.

I see certain of my Brethren fiddling away at the branches of the tree of vice with their wooden saws, but, as for the Gospel, it lays the axe at the roots of the whole forest of evil! And if it is fairly received into the heart it fells all the upas trees at once and instead of them, there spring up the fir tree, the pine tree and the box tree together to beautify the house of our Master’s Glory! Let us, when we see what the Spirit of God can do for men, publish the Grace of God and extol it with all our might!

II. And now, secondly, we have in our text and its connections, a very interesting INSTANCE OF SIN OVERRULED. Onesimus had no right to rob his master and run away. But God was pleased to make use of that crime for his conversion. It brought him to Rome and so brought him where Paul was preaching and thus it brought him to Christ and to his right mind. Now, when we speak of this, we must be cautious. When Paul says, “Perhaps he departed for a season, that you should receive him forever,” he does not excuse his departure. He does not make it out that Onesimus did right not for a moment! Sin is sin, and, whatever sin may be overruled to do, yet sin is still sin!

The crucifixion of our Savior has brought the greatest conceivable blessings upon mankind, yet, none the less, it was “with wicked hands” that they took Jesus and crucified Him. The selling of Joseph into Egypt was the means in the hand of God for the preservation of Jacob and his sons in the time of famine. But his brothers had nothing to do with that and they were, none the less, guilty for having sold their brother for a slave. Let it always be remembered that the faultiness or virtue of an act is not contingent upon the result of that act.

If, for instance, a man who has been set on a railway to turn the switch forgets to do it, you call it a very great crime if the train comes to mischief and a dozen people are killed. Yes, but the crime is the same if nobody is killed. It is not the result of the carelessness, but the carelessness, itself, which deserves punishment. If it were the man’s duty to turn the switch in such-and-such a way, and his not doing so should even by some strange accident turn to the saving of life, the man would be equally blameworthy. There would be no credit due to him, for if his duty lies in a certain line his fault also lies in a certain line, namely, the neglecting of that duty.

So if God overrules sin for good, as He sometimes does, it is none the less sin. It is sin just as much as ever, only there is so much the more glory to the wonderful wisdom and Grace of God who, out of evil, brings forth good and so does what only Omnipotent Wisdom can perform. Onesimus is not excused, then, for having embezzled his master’s goods nor for having left him without permission he still is a transgressor but God’s Grace is glorified. Remember, too, that this must be noticed that when Onesimus left his master, he was performing an action, the results of which, in all probability, would have been ruinous to him.

He was living as a trusted dependent beneath the roof of a kind master who had a Church in his house. If I read the Epistle rightly, he had a godly mistress and a godly master and he had an opportunity of learning the Gospel continually. But this reckless young blade, very likely, could not bear it and could have lived more contentedly with a heathen master, who would have beaten him one day and made him drunk another! The Christian master he could not bear, so away he went. He threw away the opportunities of salvation and he went to Rome. And he must have gone into the lowest part of the city and associated, as I have already told you, with the very grossest company.

Now, had it come to pass that he had joined in the insurrections of the slaves which took place frequently about that time, as he in all probability would have done had not Grace prevented, he would have been put to death as others had been. He would have had a short stay in Rome. I half suspect a month and off with his head as was the rule towards slaves and vagabonds. Onesimus was just the very man that would have been likely to be hurried to death and to eternal destruction. He had put his head, as it were, between the lion’s jaws by what he had done. When a young man suddenly leaves home and goes to London, we know what it means. When his friends do not know where he is, and he does not want them to know, we are aware, within a little while, where he is and what he is up to.

What Onesimus was doing, I do not know, but he was certainly doing his best to ruin himself. His course, therefore, is to be judged, as far as he is concerned, by what it was likely to bring him to and though it did not bring him to it, that was no credit to him all the honor of it is due to the overruling power of God! See, dear Brothers and Sisters, how God overruled all. Thus had the Lord purposed. Nobody shall be able to touch the heart of Onesimus but Paul. Onesimus is living at Colosse. Paul cannot come there, he is in prison. It is necessary, then, that Onesimus should go to Paul. Suppose the kindness of Philemon’s heart had prompted him to say to Onesimus, “I want you to go to Rome and find Paul out and hear him”?

This evil servant would have said, “I am not going to risk my life to hear a sermon. If I go with the money you are sending to Paul, or with the letter, I shall deliver it, but I want none of his preaching.” Sometimes, you know, when people are brought to hear a preacher with the view of their being converted, if they have any idea of it, it is about the very last thing likely to happen, because they go there resolved to be fireproof. And so the preaching does not come home to them and it would probably have been just so with Onesimus. No, no, he was not to be won in that way! He must go to Rome another way. How shall it be done?

Well, the devil shall do it, not knowing that he will be losing a willing servant thereby! The devil tempts Onesimus to steal. Onesimus does it and when he has stolen he is afraid of being discovered and so he makes tracks for Rome as quickly as he can! And he gets down among the back slums and there he feels what the prodigal felt a hungry belly and that is one of the best preachers in the world to some people! Their conscience is reached in that way. Being very hungry, not knowing what to do and no man giving anything to him, he thinks whether there is anybody in Rome that would take pity on him.

He does not know anybody in Rome at all and is likely to starve. Perhaps one morning there was a Christian woman I should not wonder who was going to hear Paul and she saw this poor man sitting crouched up on the steps of a temple. Perhaps she went to him and spoke about his soul. “Soul?” said he, “I care nothing about that, but my body would thank you for something to eat. I am starving.” She replied, “Come with me, then,” and she gave him bread and then she said, “I do this for Jesus Christ’s sake.” “Jesus Christ!” he said, “I have heard of Him. I used to hear of Him over at Colosse.” “Whom did you hear speak about Him?” the woman would ask. “Why, a short man with weak eyes. A great preacher named Paul, who used to come to my master’s house.” “Why, I am going to hear him preach,” the woman would say, “will you come and hear him with me?” “Well, I think I should like to hear him again. He always had a kind word to say to the poor.” So he goes in and pushes his way among the soldiers. And Paul’s Master incites Paul to speak the right words.

It may have been so, or it may have been the other way that not knowing anybody else at all, he thought, “Well, there is Paul, I know. He is here a prisoner and I will go down and see what prison he is in.” He goes down to the Praetorian and finds him there, tells him of his extreme poverty and Paul talks to him. And then he confesses the wrong he has done and Paul, after teaching him a little while, says, “Now, you must go back and make amends to your master for the wrong you have done.” It may have been either of these ways, but, at any rate, the Lord must have Onesimus in Rome to hear Paul. And the sin of Onesimus, though perfectly voluntary on his part, so that God had no hand in it, is yet overruled by a mysterious Providence to bring him where the Gospel shall be blessed to his soul.

Now, I want to speak to some of you Christian people about this matter. Have you a son who has left home? Is he a willful, wayward young man who has gone away because he could not bear the restraints of a Christian family? It is a sad thing it should be so a very sad thing but do not despond or even have a thought of despair about him! You do not know where he is, but God does! And you cannot follow him, but the Spirit of God can! He is going on a voyage to Shanghai. Ah, there may be a Paul at Shanghai who is to be the means of his salvation! And as that Paul is not in England, your son must go there. Is it to Australia that he is going? There may be a word spoken there, by the blessing of God, to your son which is the only word which ever will reach him!

I cannot speak it. Nobody in London can speak it. But the man there, will, and God, therefore, is letting him go away in all his willfulness and folly that he may be brought under the means of Grace which will prove effectual to his salvation. Many a sailor boy has been wild, reckless, godless, Christless and at last has got into a foreign hospital. Ah, if his mother knew that he was down with the yellow fever, how sad her mind would be, for she would conclude that her dear son will die away at Havana or somewhere, and never come home again. But it is just in that hospital that God means to meet with him!

A sailor writes to me something like that. He says, “My mother asked me to read a chapter every day, but I never did. I got into the hospital at Havana, and, when I lay there, there was a man near to me who was dying. And he died one night, but before he died, he said to me, ‘Mate, could you come here? I want to speak to you. I have got something that is very precious to me here. I was a wild fellow, but reading this packet of sermons has brought me to the Savior, and I am dying with a good hope through Grace. Now, when I am dead and gone, will you take these sermons and read them? And may God bless them to you. And will you write a letter to the man that preached and printed those sermons, to tell him that God blessed them to my conversion and that I hope he will bless them to yourself’?”

It was a packet of my sermons, and God did bless them to that young man who, I have no doubt whatever, went to that hospital because there a man who had been brought to Christ would hand to him the words which God had blessed to himself and would bless to his friend! You do not know, dear Mother, you do not know. The worst thing that can happen to a young man is sometimes the best thing that can happen to him! I have sometimes thought, when I have seen young men of position and wealth taking to racing and all sorts of dissipation, “Well, it is a dreadfully bad thing, but they may as well get through their money as quickly as ever they can, and then when they have got down to begging they will be like the young gentleman in the parable who left his father.”

When he had spent all, there arose a mighty famine in that land, and he began to be in need, and he said, “I will arise and go to my father.” Perhaps the disease that follows vice perhaps the poverty that comes like an armed man after extravagance and debauchery is but love in another form, sent to compel the sinner to come to himself and consider his ways and seek an ever merciful God! You Christian people often see the little gutter children the poor little Arabs in the street and you feel much pity for them, as well you may. There is a dear Sister here, Miss Annie MacPherson, who lives only for them. God bless her and her work! When you see them you cannot be glad to see them as they are, but I have often thought that the poverty and hunger of one of these poor little children has a louder voice to most hearts than their vice and ignorance! And God knew that we were not ready and able to hear the cry of the child’s sin, so He added the child’s hunger to that cry, that it might pierce our hearts.

People could live in sin and yet be happy, if they were well-to-do and rich. And if sin did not make parents poor and wretched, and their children miserable, we should not see it and, therefore, we should not awaken ourselves to grapple with it. It is a blessing, you know, in some diseases, when the patient can throw the complaint out upon the skin. It is a horrible thing to see it on the skin, but still it is better than its being hidden inside. Oftentimes the outward sin and the outward misery are a sort of throwing out of the disease so that the eyes of those who know where the healing medicine is to be had is thereby drawn to the disease and so the soul’s secret malady is dealt with.

Onesimus might have stayed at home and he might never have been a thief! But he might have been lost through selfrighteousness. But now his sin is visible. The scapegrace has displayed the depravity of his heart and now it is that he comes under Paul’s eyes and Paul’s prayers and becomes converted! Do not, I pray you, ever despair of man or woman or child because you see their sin upon the surface of their character. On the contrary, say to yourself, “This is placed where I can see it, that I may pray about it. It is thrown out under my eyes that I may now concern myself to bring this poor soul to Jesus Christ, the mighty Savior who can save the most forlorn sinner.”

Look at it in the light of earnest, active benevolence and awaken yourselves to conquer it! Our duty is to hope on and to pray on. It may be, perhaps, that, “he therefore departed for a season, that you should receive him forever.” Perhaps the boy has been so wayward that his sin may come to a crisis and a new heart may be given him. Perhaps your daughter’s evil has been developed that now the Lord may convince her of sin and bring her to the Savior’s feet. At any rate, if the case is ever so bad, hope in God and pray on!

III. Once more. Our text may be viewed as AN EXAMPLE OF RELATIONS IMPROVED. “He therefore departed for a season, that you should receive him forever.” “ Not now as a servant, but a Brother beloved, specially to one, but how much more unto you ?” You know we are a long while learning great truths. Perhaps Philemon had not quite found out that it was wrong for him to have a slave. Some men who were very good in their time did not know it. John Newton did not know that he was flying wrong in the slave trade and George Whitfield, when he left slaves to the orphanage at Savannah, which had been willed to him, did not think, for a moment, that he was doing anything more than if he had been dealing with horses, or gold and silver.

Public sentiment was not enlightened, although the Gospel has always struck at the very root of slavery. The essence of the Gospel is that we are to do to others as we would that others should do to us and nobody would wish to be another man’s slave and therefore he has no right to have another man as his slave. Perhaps, when Onesimus ran away and came back again, this letter of Paul may have opened Philemon’s eyes a little as to his own position. Maybe he began to doubt that he was a good master. He had trusted his servant and not treated him as a slave at all, but perhaps he had not regarded him as a brother. And now Onesimus has come back. He will be a better servant, but Philemon will be a better master and a slave-holder no longer. He will regard his former servant as a Brother in Christ.

Now, this is what the Grace of God does when it comes into a family. It does not alter the relations. It does not give the child a right to be pert and forget that he is to be obedient to his parents. It does not give the father a right to lord it over his children without wisdom and love, for it tells him that he is not to provoke his children to anger, lest they be discouraged. It does not give the servant the right to be a master, neither does it take away from the master his position, or allow him to exaggerate his authority but all round it softens and sweetens.

Rowland Hill used to say that he would not give a halfpenny for a man’s piety if his dog and his cat were not better off after he was converted. There was much weight in that remark. Everything in the house goes better when Grace oils the wheels. The mistress is, perhaps, rather sharp, quick, tart well, she gets a little sugar into her constitution when she receives the Grace of God! The servant may be apt to loiter, be late up in the morning, very slovenly, fond of a gossip at the door. But if she is truly converted, all that kind of thing ends. She is conscientious and attends to her duty as she ought. The master, perhaps well, he is the master and you know it. But when he is a truly Christian man he has a gentleness, a suavity, a considerateness about him.

The husband is the head of the wife, but when renewed by Grace he is not at all the head of the wife as some husbands are. The wife also keeps her place and seeks, by all gentleness and wisdom to make the house as happy as she can. I do not believe in your religion, dear Friend, if it belongs to the Tabernacle and the Prayer Meeting, but not to your home. The best religion in the world is that which smiles at the table, works at the sewing machine, and is amiable in the drawingroom. Give me the religion which blacks boots and does them well, cooks the food and cooks it so that it can be eaten! Measures out yards of calico and does not make them half-an-inch short! Sells a hundred yards of an article and does not label 90 a hundred, as many trades people do!

That is the true Christianity which affects the whole of life! If we are truly Christians we shall be changed in all our relationships to our fellow men and, therefore, we shall regard those whom we call our inferiors with quite a different eye. It is wrong in Christian people when they are so sharp upon little faults that they see in servants, especially if they are Christian servants. That is not the way to correct them. They see a little something wrong and, oh, they are down upon the poor girls as if they had murdered somebody! If your Master, and mine, were to treat us in that style I wonder how we would get on? How quick some are in discharging their maids for small faults! No excuse, no trying the persons again they must go.

Many a young man has been turned out of a situation for the littlest trifle, by a Christian employer, when he must have known that he would be exposed to all sorts of risks. And many a servant has been sent adrift as if she were a dog, with no sort of thought whether another position could be found, and without anything being done to prevent her going astray. Do let us think of others, especially of those whom Christ loves even as He does us. Philemon might have said, “No, no, I won’t take you back, Mr. Onesimus, not I. Once bitten, twice shy, Sir. I never ride a horse with broken knees. You stole my money! I am not going to have you back again.” I have heard that style of talk, have not you? Did you ever feel like it? If you have, go home and pray to God to get such a feeling out of you, for it is bad stuff to have in your soul! You cannot take it to Heaven.

When the Lord Jesus Christ has forgiven you so freely, are you to take your servant by the throat and say, “Pay me what you owe?” God forbid that we should continue in such a temper! Be pitiful, easily entreated, ready to forgive. It is a deal better that you should suffer a wrong than do a wrong much better that you should overlook a fault which you might have noticed, than notice a fault which you ought to have overlooked

“Let love through all your actions run,

And all your w ords be kind,” is said in the little hymn which we used to learn when we were children. We should practice it now, and “Live like the blessed virgin’s Son That meek and lowly Child.” God grant we may, of His infinite Grace! I want to say this, and then I have done. If the mysterious Providence of God was to be seen in Onesimus getting to Rome, I wonder whether there is any Providence of God in some of you being here tonight? It is possible. Such things do happen. People come here that never meant to come. The last thing in the world they would have believed, if anybody had said it, is that they would be here, yet here they are. With all manner of lyrists and turns they have gone about, but they have got here somehow. Did you miss a train, and so stepped in to wait? Did not your ship sail quite so soon as you expected, and so are you here tonight? Say, is that it? I do pray you, then, consider this question with your heart. “Does not God mean to bless me? Has He not brought me here, on purpose, that this night I may yield my heart to Jesus as Onesimus did?” My dear Friend, if you believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, you shall have immediate pardon for all sin and shall be saved! The Lord has brought you here in His infinite wisdom to hear that, and I hope that He has also brought you here that you may accept it and so go your way altogether changed. Some three years ago I was talking with an aged minister, and he began fumbling about in his waistcoat pocket, but he was a long while before he found what he wanted. At last he brought out a letter that was well near worn to pieces, and he said, “God Almighty bless you! God Almighty bless you!” And I said, “Friend, what is it?” He said, “I had a son. I thought he would be the stay of my old age, but he disgraced himself and he went away from me, and I could not tell where he went, only he said he was going to America. He took a ticket to sail for America from the London Docks, but he did not go on the particular day that he expected.” This aged minister bade me read the letter, and I read it, and it was like this “Father, I am here in America. I have found a situation and God has prospered me. I write to ask your forgiveness for the thousand wrongs that I have done you and the grief I have caused you, for blessed be God, I have found the Savior! I have joined the Church of God here, and hope to spend my life in God’s service. It happened thus: I did not sail for America the day I expected. I went down to the Tabernacle to see what it was like, and God met with me. Mr. Spurgeon said, ‘Perhaps there is a runaway son here. The Lord call him by His Grace.’ And he did. “Now,” said he, as he folded up the letter and put it in his pocket, “that son of mine is dead and he is in Heaven, and I love you, and I shall do so as long as I live, because you were the means of bringing him to Christ.” Is there a similar character here tonight? I feel persuaded there is somebody of the same sort and in the name of God I charge him to take the warning that I give him from this pulpit! I dare you to go out of this place as you came in! Oh, young man, the Lord in mercy gives you another opportunity of turning from the error of your ways, and I pray you now, here as you now are lift your eyes to Heaven, and say, “God be merciful to me a sinner,” and He will be so. Then go home to your father and tell him what the Grace or God has done for you and wonder at the love which brought you here to bring you to Christ! Dear Friend, if there is nothing mysterious about it, yet here we are. We are where the Gospel is preached and that brings responsibility upon us. If a man is lost, it is better for him to be lost without hearing the Gospel than to be lost as some of you will be if you perish under the sound of a clear, earnest enunciation of the Gospel of Jesus Christ! How long have some of you been between two opinions? “Have I been so long time with you,” says Christ, “and yet have you not known Me?” All this teaching and preaching and invitations and yet do you not turn? “O God, You the sinner turn, Convince him ofhis lost estate. Let him linger no longer, Lest he linger till he rue his Fatal choice too late.” God bless you, for Christ’s sake. Amen.

PORTION OF SCRIPTURE READ BEFORE SERMON Philemon. HYMNS FROM “OUR OWN HYMN BOOK” 231, 248. Adapted from The C.H. Spurgeon Collection , Ages Software, 1.800.297.4307.