We must take personal responsibility in our evangelistic and discipleship relationships.

Paul's Responsibility
Philemon 1:17-21
By Jordan Hines

Good morning. What a great song. What a great message of hope for us to focus our attention on our God, whom we praise.

As you know, we are in the book of Philemon. We are in a series, and we're in part four of five of that series. So let me, allow me to review here, just so we're all on the same page.

The first week we looked at Philemon verses one through three. It's just one book, one chapter. The introductory just gave us an idea of the themes and the characters and the context.

We saw that Paul wants Onesimus, a runaway slave, to be reconciled back to Philemon because of who they are in Christ. And then we saw Paul's prayer for Philemon in verses four through seven. And we saw that God wants us to fervently pray for effective gospel ministry, just as Philemon had demonstrated.

And then last week we looked at really the meat of the epistle here, Paul's appeal, verses eight to 16. We saw that Paul pleads for the acceptance of Onesimus as a slave, but also as a brother in Christ, and this was the main request. We saw this in the context of the apostle who Paul was and who Paul is.

And then the appeal of verses ten through twelve. And the purpose, we find ourselves sort of towards the end of this series where we're looking back on what Paul has said, but also looking forward to the purpose for why he is writing this and the reason he is able to be so bold. So walk with me in Philemon.

We're going to start in verse one and go all the way to verse 21. Paul, a prisoner of Christ Jesus and Timothy our brother, to Philemon, our beloved friend and fellow laborer, to the beloved Apphia, Archippus, our fellow soldier, and to the church in your house. Grace to you and peace from God our father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

I thank my God, making mention of you always in my prayers, hearing of your love and faith which you have toward the Lord Jesus and toward all the saints, that the sharing of your faith may become effective by the acknowledgment of every good thing that is in you in Christ Jesus. For we have great joy and consolation in your love, because the hearts of the saints have been refreshed by you, brother. Therefore, though I might be very bold in Christ, to command you what is fitting, yet for love's sake, I rather appeal to you, being such a one as Paul the aged and now also a prisoner of Jesus Christ.

I appeal to you for my son Onesimus, whom I have begotten while in my chains, who once was unprofitable to you, but now is profitable to you and to me. I am sending him back to you. You therefore receive him.

That is my own heart, whom I wish to keep with me. That on your behalf he might minister to me in my chains for the gospel. But without your consent, I wanted to do nothing.

That your good deed might not be by compulsion, as it were, but voluntary. For perhaps he departed for a while for this purpose, that you might receive him forever, no longer as a slave, but more than a slave, a beloved brother, especially to me. But how much more to you, both in the flesh and in the Lord.

Verse 17. Now, if then you count me as a partner, receive him as you would me. But if he has wronged you or owes you anything, put that on my account.

I, Paul, am writing this with my own hand. I will repay, not to mention to you, that you owe me even your own self besides. Yes, brother, let me have joy from you in the Lord.

Refresh my heart in the Lord. Having confidence in your obedience. I am writing to you knowing that you will do even more than I say.

Let's ask the Lord for help as we open his word. God, we come before you as your children, knowing that you are the one who provides change in our lives. You're the one who provides the love and the joy in our lives.

You also provide the correction and the work that makes us more like Jesus Christ. I pray that as we read these scriptures and as we understand what it means, that we would be changed, we'd be transformed more and more into the image of Jesus Christ. Help us to see ourselves in this passage.

Help us to take personal responsibility ourselves. In your son's name, we pray. Amen.

Have you ever had to paint something that's really high up on a building like trim? I was up on the roof yesterday for a tour during the workday, and we were able to see the peak of the roof and just how high that was. And I can't imagine getting up on a ladder, taking step by step and as your knees are shaking and quivering, looking down and looking to the side and feeling in fear. I think taking responsibility is somewhat like that.

As we take those higher responsibilities step by step, we're fearful and we think, how can we do this? We're called to take personal responsibility. We're called to look around and see the condition of our hearts, see the condition of our world, and take responsibility for our relationships. And we have to learn this lesson that no matter what higher responsibility we take on, it's scary.

It's very scary, but it is worth it. It is something we have to do. We must take on personal responsibility in our evangelistic and our discipleship relationships.

Paul is talking to a brother today. Paul is talking to a man whom he cherishes and cares for, and he's also putting responsibility on him. This is the kind of friendships that I hope that we have, relationships that are not just built on fun, not just built on entertainment or good times together, but that are built on what we ought to be doing together in a common cause for Christ.

We'll see Paul's responsibility in verses 17 to 19, Philemon's responsibility at the end of verse 19 to verse 21. And then we'll see our responsibility in response. How we ought to be living in a response the first section here is Paul's responsibility.

And Paul, fittingly the author of this letter, is taking responsibility on himself, and he's leveraging his relationship. Really. Look at verse 17 with me again.

It says, if then you count me as a partner, receive him as you would receive me. But if he has wronged you or owes you anything, put that on my account. I, Paul, am writing this with my own hand.

I will repay the condition of this whole request of this responsibility that's going to be put on Philemon is the relationship that they have. See, Philemon can trust what Paul is saying because he knows that Paul is living this. He knows that Paul is exercising this in his daily life.

He also sees credibility in the ministry of Paul, in his consistency. It's as if you're co signing for a loan. If the person borrowing the money is not seen as trustworthy Onesimus here in this situation, they need someone who is worthy or trustworthy to lend the money to.

So Paul lends credibility to Onesimus, who, formerly a runaway slave, not a believer of little value to Philemon, now has credibility. And let me be clear. It is not because of Paul only.

It is because of the ministry that Paul was allowed to have in his life. It is because the gospel was effective and powerful in his life. So the question here is, what is Paul's responsibility? Philemon is to receive Onesimus as he would receive Paul.

So how would Philemon receive Paul? Well, there are a couple clues that we can get even just from this book that kind of clue us into the relationship and how they would receive each other. You can look back at Philemon, one where it says, Paul, a prisoner of Christ Jesus and Timothy, our brother to Philemon are, here's the words, beloved friend and fellow laborer. So as a friend as a laborer.

It's personal. And Paul mentions also that he's writing this letter with his own hand. They might have seen a large print, a large font from Paul, because maybe he's not able to see and maybe he's getting, because he is aged here.

Maybe they can see. This is Paul's personal handwriting. This is Paul committing to it.

You can skip down to verse five through seven. There's more clues about the relationship. It says, hearing of your love and faith, which you have toward the Lord Jesus and toward all the saints.

Paul's included in that verse six that the sharing of your faith may become effective by the acknowledgment of every good thing which is in you, in Christ Jesus. For we have great joy and consolation in your love because the hearts of the saints have been refreshed by you, brother. A couple of key words I just want to highlight through those passages.

A beloved friend, a fellow laborer. In love. In faith there is joy, there's consolation.

In your love there is refreshment. This is a good relationship. It's a positive relationship.

The idea of consolation is a source of comfort to a person. They feel this in the time of disappointment or need. Philemon is being asked to treat Onesimus as a brother in Christ, to forgive sins because he himself has been forgiven of sins, demonstrate unearned love despite Onesimus' condition, because he himself had received unearned love, and to provide comfort and refreshment to a new brother in Christ.

Onissimus' reception is not the only thing that Paul places on Philemon. Paul also places Onesimus' record on his account. Not only this, but his record.

He goes on in verse 18 he says, but if he has wronged you or owes you anything, put that on my account. I, Paul, am writing with my own hand. I will repay.

Now this is one step farther right? This is not just a sentiment. This is not just a phrase that he uses. This is him actually taking on any debts, any wrongdoings or debts that Onesimus has acquired.

This is truly sacrificing for the sake of the gospel, for the sake of those relationships. To do wrong here, these wrongdoings is to treat unjustly or to do wrong too. Any sins committed against Philemon here are to be placed in Paul.

And I think it's fairly obvious here that the gospel is being displayed. It's fairly obvious that the gospel is being lived out in this moment. As you look at your life, you can think through the fact that Jesus bore the sins of the world on his shoulders.

On the cross. Our sins were placed on him on his account so that we could be received as blameless before God the Father. It's a beautiful picture of Jesus paying for our debt.

Paul is paying for the debts of Onesimus. Paul's actions reflect a life lived in the pattern of a Gospel ministry. This debt here could be a financial loss caused by the lack of Onesimus being there because he had run away, services not rendered while he was gone.

And depending on his skills, on his abilities, they may have been great. These wrongdoings and debts were put on Paul's account. The idea here is to assess, to charge a person.

This is what christian love looks like. It's sacrifice. It's giving.

We ought to be giving in this way. Would you be able willing to do this for someone? What Paul is doing for Onesimus? I know we love each other, we care for one another, but honestly, it is hard to fathom doing this for someone to say, I will take on all of your debts. I will take care of all the wrongdoings.

If I need to be punished for your sins, I will. It is unfathomable for us to do this. And that is why we needed the love of Christ.

Because before we had Christ, nothing in us wanted to help others. Nothing in us wanted to serve and love and care for others. It's because we have received the love of Christ.

We were able to give this kind of love because Christ looked at us and he saw someone who was helpless. He saw someone who needed help, who was in need of the gospel, in need of transformation from the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of light. He made us his children.

He adopted us. He took away the wrath that we deserved. He took on our record, he took on our reception.

Paul took responsibility for Onesimus just as Jesus took responsibility for ours. And the pictures continue here as we look at Philemon's responsibility. And they're very similar.

Verses 19, the end of verse 19, it says, not to mention to you that you owe me even your own self. Besides, yes, brother, let me have joy from you in the Lord. Refresh my heart in the Lord.

Having confidence in your obedience. I write to you knowing that you will do even more than I say. So first off, Paul mentions there's a spiritual debt here.

Not to mention to you that you owe me even your own self. Besides, I love these relationships that Paul brings out, because what Paul does for his ministry and his life is not worthless. Paul does something that's effective not because of himself.

He does it because of the gospel. And these people that he is ministering to are being transformed by the gospel and changed. And it's interesting the way he phrases it, not to mention to you, and then he mentions it, even your own self.

Remember Philemon, who led you to Christ? Remember who showed you this hope? And I don't think Paul is doing this to bring glory to himself. That wouldn't be fitting for what we've seen of Paul. I think what Paul is doing is he's saying, remember how you were changed.

Remember how much you owed in Christ. You owed everything. You owed your life.

And when Jesus Christ took on your sins, when you were transformed by the power of the gospel. You have new life now. You were given new life.

Paul's not doing this to point to his own good deeds or his ministry. I think Paul is doing this to point to the power of the gospel. Paul draws upon this relationship with Philemon as the one who leads him to the Lord.

One commentator noted that having addressed Onesimus'debt to Philemon, Paul now shifts the focus to Philemon's debt to Paul, not to mention that you owe me your very self. Philemon suddenly moves from the position of a creditor to that of the debtor. It had likely been Paul who brought Philemon to Christ for that, Paul who owes Paul for that.

Philemon owes Paul for his very eternal life. Paul's point is that while Onesimus owes Philemon in a monetary sense, Philemon is indebted to Paul in a spiritual sense. This puts even more pressure on Philemon to be merciful with Onesimus.

Paul is now seeking to collect, and neither should Philemon. Both are ruled by christian love and mercy, and all debts are to be canceled. Philemon here is now responsible.

To look at this slave and forgive because he has been forgiven, is to follow the pattern of self sacrifice and forgiveness that Paul exemplified in his very life. Paul reminds Philemon of the spiritual debt that he owes him. And next, Paul will ask Philemon to give him joy in verse 20.

Yes, brother, let me have joy from you in the Lord, refresh my heart in the Lord, give me profit, help me derive benefit from you. I think this means that there's physical nourishment surely involved, as later on in next week's sermon. We'll see.

But also, I think it's prayer. I think it's spiritual renewal in the word of God. I think it's Bible study.

I think it's discipleship. I think it's concern for one another. I think it's relationship.

I think the reconciliation of Onesimus and Philemon would bring joy to Paul's life as he sees these two people that he cares so much about be reconciled. And it's really fun to see Paul's confidence displayed here as well, in that he's so confident this request will be made. Right.

Look at verse 21, the end of this section. Having confidence in your obedience, I write to you knowing that you will do even more than I say. He's confident.

He's not coming at it as, oh, I guess maybe try to do this or please do this thinking, okay, he's probably not going to. No, he knows he's going to. He knows he's going to because he knows the character that Philemon has.

He knows how he lives. Why was Paul so confident that Philemon would obey? Philemon had demonstrated a pattern of obedience to Paul and most importantly, to God. He demonstrated his character consistently.

Philemon and Paul's relationship was based on their shared faith. They had this united purpose, this united function in the gospel, to serve others, to refresh the saints. We should have this kind of confidence in each other.

Can people have this kind of confidence in you? If someone says, this really should get done, and if it's something that's really important to you or to that person, is it going to get done? We should be able to confidently say we are going to live our lives in the shadow of the cross, knowing that we are debtors to God, knowing that because Jesus Christ died for us, we ought to live our lives for him. We ought to be able to confidently say that everything in our life is not about us, it's about God. We ought to be able to confidently say that we will love our neighbor as ourselves, that we will share the gospel with our coworkers, that we will forego sins in our lives that easily beset us.

We will be able to turn away from evil and turn to God. We should be able to confidently say that we see that we've seen Paul's responsibilities here, that Paul has taken on the responsibility of Onesimus, and he has transferred this sort of responsibility over to Philemon to receive him, knowing that he will do this. I think most importantly today we have to think through our responsibilities as believers.

What are we supposed to do with this message? I believe we're supposed to have ministry partners. We're supposed to have a church family together. We're supposed to, if we are married, have a spouse who we have a relationship with and grow in Christ with.

If you're single, have other like minded men or women who you disciple, who you are, growing in Christ with. We are to support missionaries and to develop these relationships in our communities. We are to have ministry partnerships, relationships.

That's the whole leverage that Paul has at the beginning of this passage, is, if you consider me a ministry partner, do this to have those relationships to begin with, but also to share the gospel. Paul recognizes the need for Philemon and Onesimus to be saved, and that's what drove him to give them the gospel. Paul recognized the need for his gospel ministry even while in prison.

He's not wallowing in self pity. What he's doing is he's ministering through the circumstances he is in. Share the gospel in all circumstances, and that means going out of your way sometimes even when you would like to do something else.

We are to receive brothers and sisters in Christ with love and mercy. Recognize that we too were once received into the fellowship, we were once brought into the family of God in a spiritual sense, as children of God, but also in this congregation. You were brought in, you were fellowshipped with, you were loved.

We are to give love and mercy to others, knowing that we too have received love and mercy. Another theme that keeps popping up is refreshing. The saints.

We are to refresh the saints, to show hospitality, to walk with them in the good times and the bad times, and to not just do this as, oh, I'm sorry you're going through this, but also point them to what the Bible says about it and what you are learning in your devotions and what God has helped you through, because each and every one of you has a struggle, has a trial that you've gone through, and God has allowed that trial, that struggle, to grow and change you and equip you to serve others. God doesn't waste those trials and tribulations. God uses those in your life so you can use those in other people's lives.

We are to show people love and walk with them, saturate our conversations in the conduct of the word of God. We are to encourage people to walk with the Lord. I know I'm talking to a group of primarily believers, but there may be an unbeliever in this crowd, someone who doesn't have this relationship, as Paul is talking to Philemon and about Onesimus and about the relationship they have in Christ.

You don't know what that means. As an unbeliever, you need to put yourself in the place of this Onesimus. Acknowledge your need for God as a runaway, as a rebel, helpless to pay your own debt, in need of great forgiveness, and run to God.

Perhaps this illustration will help clarify what God offers in salvation. This is a classic illustration. We use all the time to clarify substitutionary atonement.

The crucial idea is that God is both just and loving. Those two attributes would seem to be in conflict when it comes to dealing with sinful people. But at the cross, they each reach their fullest expression.

Without compromise, build and heighten the tension between his love and his justice, and then show how God solves this dilemma. Do you know why Jesus had to die? Let me tell you a story that night that might help make it clear. Do you have a car? Well, let's say that you are driving home this weekend and you are cruising.

You're going, say, 105 are just flying. You get busted. The cops had you on radar, and you're done.

They impound your car and bring you straight to the courthouse to face the judge. Well, the good news is that the county you got busted in, it just happens to be the county in which your dad is the judge. So you're thinking that you're golden.

He loves you. He'll just let you off. Everything will be fine.

But just as you are entering the courthouse, you remember that your dad is a really good judge. He never punishes the innocent. He will always punish the guilty.

He is good, and he is just. Now you're a little nervous, which is going to win out his love or his justice. He is your dad, and he loves you, so he'll want to do good to you.

But he's a good and just judge, and therefore he'll want to follow the law and render a just verdict. What then do you think he'd do? Which would win love or justice? While it's hard to know what he might do, let me walk you through a scenario that shows how he might solve the dilemma. You stand before your dad, the judge, and he says to you, son, this officer says, you are going 50 miles over the speed limit.

How do you plead? And you say, guilty. Yeah, that's a good idea, because you're guilty, he says. So he looks at him, looks at you, and says, that will be a $500 fine or a week in jail.

Guilty as charged. He bangs down the gavel. Well, you don't have any money.

Well, you don't have any money. So the bailiff comes to you to take you away so you can start serving your time. When your dad, the judge, stands up and says, wait a minute.

Bring him back here. Then he stands up, takes his robe off, and walks down from the bench. And he reaches into his coat and takes out his checkbook.

And writes a check in the court for $500, the exact amount of your fine. Then he offers it to you. What's going on here is this.

He is just. So, he declared you guilty, since you are, and he demands that the penalty be paid. But he loves you, so he is determined to pay that penalty himself on your behalf.

Now, as he stands there offering you the check, what do you need to do? Accept or reject it? That's right. You need to accept or reject. You can either accept his payment on your behalf or for whatever reason, you can reject it.

Okay, now roll back the tape. That story is, I think, a great picture of what God does for us. If there are two things primarily true about God, they are that he is loving and he is just.

He loves you. He always has. He cannot love you more and will not love you less.

He loves you and he is just. He always renders a just verdict. He always does the right thing.

Those two things put him in an interesting situation when it comes to us, because every one of us has broken his laws. We are guilty before him. So which would win out his love, which would want to let us off? Or his justice, which demands a penalty to be paid? The Bible says that he declared us guilty because we are and demanded that we pay a penalty.

Then he left heaven, came to earth, became a man, and died to pay for our penalty. See, we didn't owe a $500 penalty, so he didn't just write a check. The Bible says that sin earns us the death penalty, so he died to pay that.

When it comes to us, he offers his life on our behalf. Just like your dad and the check. Just like your dad, with a check standing before you and says, you say, I'll take that blame for every rotten thing you've ever done and give you credit for my perfect life.

All you need to do is accept it. The judge offers us the penalty, paid the payment for our sin. As we look back on our lives, as we look back on this week, there are several sins we can just bring to mind right now.

As Onesimus looked back on his life, there are several sins he could bring to his mind. Jesus Christ paid the penalty for his sins. Jesus Christ died for your sins.

And the slave that we are talking about is not just Onesimus, it's you. If you are a brother in Christ, if you have accepted Jesus Christ as your savior, you are in the family of God. But if not, you are bound for hell.

And as believers, that ought to push us towards sharing the gospel, towards taking responsibility. In our evangelistic relationships in our discipleship relationships. As you look at the series that we've looked at, that we've gone through, you can see that Paul is building something.

Paul has introduced himself. Paul has prayed for Philemon, that he would do the right thing based on his character. Paul has appealed for him in a very specific way.

And now Paul is taking responsibility himself, as we ought to be taking responsibility ourselves, for sharing the gospel, for being this gospel testimony. And next week, we will summarize, we will conclude this series, and I pray that we can track just exactly how God has been working in the life of Philemon, Onesimus and us. I pray that this series has been profitable for you.

Let's pray. God, we are in great need of you every single day. And it never ceases to amaze me how good your your word is at bringing us back, at reminding us who we are in Christ, at showing us that we are sinners and that you died for us.

Pray the gospel would never grow old, never grow tired in our mind, but that we would live in responsibility, sharing the gospel with others. In your son's name we pray. Amen.