Sermon Tone Analysis
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Chapter 1 Review
Chapter 1
The only prison epistle written to an individual.
God in His providence brings a slave from the church of Colossians to Rome.
Paul brings Onesimus the run away slave to Christ and returns him along with this letter to his master Philemon.
We are taught a valuable lesson about forgiveness and its practical out-workings in church life.
Look for
— Prayers ( Blue )
— Promises ( Green )
— Warnings ( Red )
— Commands ( Purple )
Unique
The book of Philemon is unique in many ways
— Shortest epistle of Paul
— Only prison epistle written to an individual and not a pastor
— The only letter written dealing purely with personal issues
— The only letter in which he downplays rather than asserts his apostolic authority
— Contains no doctrine or theology
— It is about forgiveness but the word never appears in the letter
Forgiveness
— “Forgiveness.
Nothing is more foreign to sinful human nature.
And nothing is more characteristic of divine grace.”
(MacArthur, The Freedom and Power of Forgiveness )
— Greatest illustration is the Prodigal Son (Luke 15:11-32)
— Father represents God
— He forgives totally, eagerly, lavishly
Corollaries
Two (2) important corollaries:
— #1 if God is never more like Himself when He forgives
— man is never more like God when he forgives
— We are like God when we forgive others
— “The discretion of a man makes him slow to anger, And his glory is to overlook a transgression” ( Prov 19:11 )
— #2 God’s forgiveness of us is based on our forgiveness of others
— “For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.
15 But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses” ( Matt 6:14-15 )
— “For judgment is without mercy to the one who has shown no mercy.
Mercy triumphs over judgment” (James 2:13)
No Forgiveness
— God will not forgive you if you do not forgive others
Paradox
— We are fully forgiven (Eph 1:7)
— But still need ongoing forgiveness (1 John 1:9)
Result
— We forfeit blessings and invite chastening when we do not forgive others
The Book Philemon
The Cast of Characters
By remarkable providence the lives of three men are brought together — a runaway slave, the offended slave owner and a godly apostle
— These men were very different from each other except in one regard: they were all believers in Jesus Christ and therefore members of the same body ( 1 Cor 12:12-14 )
Onesimus
Before becoming a Christian Onesimus (a slave) , ran away and went to Rome
— Rome was a haven for runaway slaves because they could mingle with the large population and avoid detection
— In Rome Onesimus somehow encountered Paul, who was under house arrest awaiting trial on false charges of sedition
— Details are not given but it is clear that Onesimus became a Christian as a result of Paul’s ministry ( Philem 10 )
Useful
Onesimus means “useful”; became useful to Paul ( Philem 11,13 )
— He became a treasured friend and fellow laborer to the apostle Paul
— He ministered personally to Paul when many others were fearful because of potential persecution ( cf 2 Tim 1:8; 4:10-16 )
Philemon
Philemon was the slave owner whom Onesimus had wronged
— He too had come to faith in Christ through Paul’s ministry, possibly during Paul’s time in Ephesus ( Acts 18-20; 19:26 )
— Philemon owned the home where the Colossian church met ( Philem 2; cf Col 4:17 )
— Seemed to be a wealthy and influential man
— At the opposite end of the social spectrum from Onesimus
— Yet a devote Christian and regarded by Paul as a beloved “fellow-worker” ( Philem 1 )
The Plot
Paul and Onesimus must have been reluctant to return the slave back to his master
— Paul said it was like sending back his heart ( Philem 12 )
— Yet Onesimus need to go back and seek forgiveness for what wrongs he had done
— Onesimus was guilty under Roman Law of some serious crimes
— Ran away which was tantamount to stealing
— He may have actually stolen money because Paul offered to reimburse Philemon ( Philem 18 )
— It was a serious matter to be a fugitive slave
— Possibly Paul waited to send Onesimus back with Tychicus to deliver a letter to Ephesus and Colossae
Tychicus
Tychicus’ presence ensured some degree of safety for Onesimus
— But significant risk for Onesimus to return back to Philemon
— Under Roman law, Philemon had full power to punish the runaway slave as he saw fit
— Many slaves were tortured and put to death for more petty offenses
— A standard practice was to brand the salve with the letter “F” (for the Latin fugitivus ) to make it impossible to hid again if they ran away
— At the very least he would be given a severe beating
— A hundred years before a famous revolt was led by Spartacus and from then on Roman law was especially harsh towards runaway slaves
A brief word about Slavery
— Slavery was the universal practice at the height of the Roman Empire
— Slavery countenanced ins Scripture is an indentured slavery, meaning that the slave entered into slavery by contract with the owner — usually for a set period ( cf.
Ex 21:2-6 )
— There was nothing inherently oppressive or unjust about such a relationship
— When Scripture instructs slaves to obey their masters, it is like telling employees to submit to their bosses
— But most Roman slavery was not benign
— Slavery throughout the Empire was beset with abuses and harsh practices that were inherently immoral
— Many Roman slaves were acquired and held by force and not indentured
— Many were deprived the right to marry and were bred like animals
Q: Why does the Bible not expressly forbid slavery?
— It was the abuse of slavery, not servitude that was evil
— There’s nothing inherently immoral or unjust about one man serving another
— Furthermore, all abuses of slavery are condemned in Scripture
— Man stealing on which the slave trade in America was based is condemned ( Exod 2:21:16 )
— The inhumanity of slavery is denounced ( cf.
Lev 19:15; Is 10:1-2; Amos 5:11-14 )
— The early church did not focus on social reform because ( like today ) the gospel message is inevitably obscured by the human-rights agenda, and the work of the church is compromised
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