The sermon, delivered by Robert Bosley, focuses on the themes of love and hope as found in the Epistle to Philemon. It emphasizes the importance of understanding the full context of Scripture and highlights three main points: Paul's substitution, his confidence, and the conclusion of the letter. Bosley explains how the gospel instructs believers to live lives marked by love and hope, shaped by the cross. He discusses the concept of substitutionary love, illustrated by Paul's appeal for Onesimus, and the transformative power of God's grace. The sermon also explores the role of prayer in the believer's life, emphasizing Paul's confidence in both Philemon and God's sovereignty. The unity and equality within the church family are underscored through Paul's greetings. The practical application of the cross in daily life, reconciliation within the church, and confidence in prayer are urged. The sermon concludes with a prayer for understanding and living out Christian love, as demonstrated by Christ's sacrifice.

We will wrap up our study of the book of Philemon right now. So if you would turn in your copy of the scriptures to the Epistle of Paul to Philemon. And as I've said before, anytime we have the opportunity to read an entire book of scripture, we should take that opportunity so we grasp the full context, the full argument that is being presented. We should always take that opportunity to flow the narrative. We understand the consistency of the logic and the arguments made.

So I will read the entire epistle again. Paul, a prisoner of Christ Jesus, and Timothy our brother, to Philemon our beloved friend and fellow laborer, to the beloved Apheia, Archipas 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 acknowledgement 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.

Therefore, though I might be very bold in Christ to command 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 is now profitable to you and to me. I am sending him back. 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.

If then you count me as a partner, receive him as you would receive me. But if he has wronged you or owes anything, put that on my account. I, Paul, am writing with my own hand. I will repay. Not to mention to you that you owe me even your own self besides.

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. But meanwhile, also prepare a guest room for me, for I trust that through your prayers I shall be granted to you. Epaphras, my fellow prisoner in Christ Jesus, greets you, as do Mark, Aristarchus, Demas, Luke, my fellow laborers.

The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit. Amen. Let's pray. Our Father, we come before you and we thank you again that we have this opportunity to be in your word. I pray, Lord, that you would open up our minds and our hearts to understand what you have said to us in the scriptures and Lord we do know that this is you speaking to us this is your word and we pray Lord that you would bless it and make it effective by your spirit Lord may you help us to understand may you not only help us to understand but may we be changed By what we read here and what it says and Lord above all may you be glorified as our pastor said this book and so much of all of Scripture can really be be summed up in the word love.

And as we get to these last few verses, that is really what all this centers on. As we think through the last two messages from Philemon, as we've looked at the first several verses of this book and we look at the end of it here, all of this centers in and finds its focal point on what does love really look like. And so last week we had verses 8 through 16 centering on Onesimus, the new status of Onesimus, Paul's appeal on behalf of Onesimus, and the sovereign providence guiding Onesimus. And now we're going to turn and finish this book looking at it, how all this relates to the love of God and how Paul is affected by the love of God. And so we're going to look at three main points here.

Paul's substitution in verses 17 to 20, Paul's confidence in 21 and 22, and then the conclusion in verses 23 and 25. Analyzing his appeal on behalf of Onesimus, and he's expressing his confidence both in Philemon's obedience and in God's faithfulness. And what I want us to get from this is that how the gospel teaches us to live a life marked by love and marked by hope which is all shaped by the cross. And that idea of the gospel teaching us may be a somewhat of a foreign concept. We often think of the gospel being a declaration of what God has done for us in Christ, and it is absolutely that.

But the gospel and the grace of God in the gospel also teaches us what is Paul say in Titus, Titus 2 11, for the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men, teaching us that denying ungodliness and worldly lusts we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in this present age. So God's grace comes to us and it doesn't just declare us right, although that is what it does, but it also teaches us and changes us and makes us into the image of Christ. God's grace doesn't just declare things over us but it actually works in us to make us more like Jesus. And so we heard this morning so much about what the cross does in making us right before God. Christ substituting himself in our place.

The penal substitutionary death of Jesus. Jesus on that cross took our sins on himself. He was forsaken so that we would not have to be forsaken. He died in the place of sinners so that we would have the righteousness of God and be forgiven of our sins. That is the bedrock of a genuinely biblical and Christian understanding of the atonement, of what happened on that cross.

Christ stood in our place. But that's not all that the cross does. What real love looks like. What does it mean to be a Christian? What does it mean to be like Christ?

And so that's what we'll see here, especially in verses 17 to 20. So verses 17 to 20, we have here what I've considered Paul's substitution. Paul, having just finished talking about the purpose for all to Philemon not simply for a time but forever that they may enjoy fellowship with God for all eternity. Having previously talked about his appeal for Onesimus, his desire in verse 12, I'm sending him back, you therefore receive him, this one who is my own heart. Paul now turns back to this idea of his request, his appeal on behalf of Onesimus.

He turns back to this in verse 17, further explaining his appeal that he's making on behalf of Onesimus. And he says, if then you count me as a partner, receive him as you would me. And so this this if statement is not a statement of uncertainty but a statement of of what is the necessary consequence. He's not saying but if you do this is what you ought to do. No, Paul is confident.

If you look at me this way, if you reckon me to be a partner, a partner in ministry, a partner in the grace of God, and I know that you do, brother, The natural result is that you ought to receive back Onesimus. Not simply receive him back, but receive him as you would receive me. Onesimus should be welcomed back not begrudgingly as a runaway slave, sheepishly returning home, but he should be welcomed back with the same love and compassion and joy that would accompany the arrival of the Apostle Paul himself. Receive him back as you would receive me. Onesimus is to be welcomed back as a brother and so there's this a substitutionary idea here.

Consider Onesimus's arrival as if I were coming back. Paul is encouraging Philemon to think of him and Onesimus as being in one another's place. Welcome Onesimus as if you would welcome me." And verse 18 clarifies and furthers this idea of substitution as has committed. If he has wronged you or owes anything, put that on my account. Paul at least suspects that Onesimus may have wronged Philemon, not merely in just the running away, but also probably in some sort of a theft, most likely in order to fund his trip to Rome, where Paul is.

Colossi, depending on what route he would take, that would be somewhere between 1300 and 1700 miles, possibly a three to four month long journey if he simply walked the entire distance. And so Onesimus likely stole something and either Paul suspects that or Onesimus has told him that and so Paul now brings this up either as a possibility or or tactfully bringing up what may be a touchy subject if He has wronged you if he owes you anything, lay that to my charge. Put that on my account. Paul is imputing to himself the guilt of Onesimus that he has towards Philemon. Philemon has probably wronged...

Onesimus has probably wronged Philemon in a serious way, and he could be held liable under the law of God. The law of God required restitution for robbery. Exodus 22 has several different rules for restitution in cases of theft, and that may be what's on the apostle Paul's mind here. There's been a theft, there's been a wrongdoing, and it needs to be made right. But he takes that burden on himself.

Paul standing in an act of mercy and grace intercedes and incurs Onesimus' debt in his place. He stands in the place of Onesimus before Philemon, satisfying both the demands of justice but also securing mercy on Onesimus' behalf. And so we have here, he is imputing this debt to himself and this is a vivid and practical illustration of what Christ did On the cross Christ bore our sins He was bruised for our transgression. He was crushed for our iniquity. The punishment that brings us peace was laid on him.

Christ died in the place of sinners. And here, in a lesser way, obviously, Paul mimics Christ and takes Onesimus's guilt on himself and promises that he will be the one to repay it in full. Christ took your punishment that you would not have to pay it. He paid it in full on that cross so that you could go free. And here Paul takes Onesimus' guilt on himself, promises to repay it in full so that onesimus may go free.

And so Christ is the model of Paul's love here. What did Jesus say in John 13? John 13, 34 and 35, he says, a new commandment I give to you, that you love one another as I have loved you that you also love one another by this all people will know you are my disciples if you have love for one another and this new covenant love this as Christ has loved you kind of love, comes up here in Paul's love for Onesimus. He stands in his place and he loves Onesimus as Christ has loved Paul, as Christ has loved him, now he turns that same kind of substitutionary love toward Onesimus. And in verse 19, he confirms it.

Says, I am writing with my own hand. I will repay. This is a promise where he, Paul seems to take the pen from his himself. I will repay. He's had someone else that he's been dictating this letter to, someone else has been writing these words, but here Paul takes the pen and writes it in his own hand, I will repay this debt.

It's a promise. It's a sign of his interest and his pledge to make Onesimus' debt go away. Just as Christ came and in his own blood, he made our debt for God go away. And Paul uses Philemon's status as a convert under the ministry of Paul to to strengthen this. He says, not to mention that to you that you owe me even your own self besides.

You were blessed under my ministry, Philemon. By the grace of God, you are brought to saving faith. That same grace has now appeared to Onesimus. You owe me even your own life in the Lord because you have that debt towards me allow me to take this debt on myself and so here we have as we've seen in the last message last week, we have both both poles, human responsibility and divine sovereignty affirmed here. Paul says Philemon owes himself to Paul.

In the human world, the human realm, Paul was the instrument of Philemon's conversion and the conversion of Onesimus. Paul genuinely preached the gospel. They genuinely responded so that in a sense Philemon owes himself to Paul. But about Onesimus, God separated him. He was separated from you.

He was removed. God was the one at work. And verse 20, Paul goes on and he says, let me have this benefit or this joy as the new King James renders it. This debt that he's putting on himself is not a burden, it's a joy, it's a benefit. For Paul to show this same love that Christ has shown him, to show that love to this one that has been born again under his ministry, Paul says it's a benefit, it's a joy, it's something that is a great gift to him.

The joy that he will receive from seeing Onesimus reconciled to Philemon far outweighs the cost of any repayment that he may have to do on behalf of Onesimus. It outweighs any cost at all. The joy of seeing these two believers reconciled and this division removed, that joy outweighs any cost. And what does the scripture say? Christ went to that cross for the joy set before him.

He endured the goi of seeing sinners made right with their creator far outweighed the cost and So we see in this this language that Paul is using this language of substitution and this incurring Onesimus's debt on himself. This is Christ like love cross-shaped love He's taken the example of Christ and made it real and practical in how he is trying to bring these two parties together. And Paul is clearly pleading for Philemon to show that same love and compassion to Onesimus that he was praised for in verse seven. Look back at verse seven, he says, "'We have great joy and consolation in your love or because of your love because the hearts of the Saints have been refreshed by you brother and so here Paul's argument really reaches its culmination reaches its apex when he says let me have joy from you in the Lord refresh my heart in the Lord he's pulling from what he said in verse 7 in verse 12 because Philemon has refreshed the hearts of all the saints in verse 7 and Onesimus himself is Paul's heart in verse 12, Philemon must see that the only appropriate response is to give a proper welcome to Onesimus.

Receive him home, forgive him of any debt, forgive him of any wrongdoing, and welcome him as a beloved brother. And so Paul here gives us an example of what it means to live with a Christ-like love, a substitutionary love. He takes Onesimus' place and secures this reconciliation on behalf of these two sinners just as Christ stood and took our place and reconciled us to God and now his Paul's confidence in verses 21 and 22 He says having confidence in your obedience. I write to you knowing that you will do even more than I say. But meanwhile, also prepare a guest room for me, for I trust that through your prayers, I shall be granted to you.

And Seppala shows that he has confidence. Confidence in his brother Philemon and confidence in God. Verse 21, his confidence in Philemon. So he isn't only assuming Philemon's willingness, but he has persuaded that because of Onesimus's new status and this reminder that he's been talking about throughout this letter of the unity of the church as a family that loves one another, All of this together is enough. He is confident that Philemon will not only Begrudgingly do okay.

Well because Paul said that I guess I'll do it said he that Philemon will go above and beyond the letter of the law. He will go above and beyond. He will do even more than what Paul has asked. Now many will debate what is exactly this more. We don't know.

Obviously he didn't say what he had in mind. Possibly again there could be a hint of not only welcoming him back and receiving him, but freeing him from his servitude. We don't know, but because of Philemon's character, because the effect of the grace of God both in Philemon's heart and an onesimus and what it means to be a part of the church, Paul has confidence that Philemon will go above and beyond mere acceptance of Onesimus. He has confidence that God's grace in Philemon will spur him on to a greater heartfelt obedience. In verse 22, we have Paul's confidence in God.

He says, Meanwhile, prepare a guest room for me. While you're showing this forgiveness to Onesimus, do this for me. He asks for a personal benefit from Philemon, a guest room to stay in once he is released from prison. And the use of the language of meanwhile or at the same time is interesting. He could have simply said in addition or also, but he didn't.

He said meanwhile, at the same time, which you normally would say that if the first thing you've talked about will take place over a period of time. There's a duration. So while this is happening, also do this. Not after you've done that, do this. So there seems to be a hint here that he expects the welcoming of Onesimus and his reception in the church to be a process.

And I think what he's getting at here is that real reconciliation, real forgiveness is not simply in words. It's not simply saying, welcome home. It's not simply saying, I forgive you. It's shown and demonstrated in a day by day lifestyle of showing that there's been this reconciliation of living now that there's no longer this barrier between our fellowship meanwhile while you're living this life being reconciled to one another because of what Christ has done in both your hearts, Meanwhile, prepare a guest room for me. And as I was reading this verse and studying the the language here I was just really gripped by what Paul says and what he doesn't say here in verse 22 He says I trust that through your prayers I shall be granted to you.

He doesn't say I hope that I will be released from prison. He doesn't say I hope the Romans will let me go soon. He says, I hope that through your prayers I may be granted to you. There are several interesting things here. First the your for the first time since verse 3 is now in the plural.

Everything else throughout the letter has been singular, directed solely to Philemon. Now he's addressing the whole Colossian Church. Through your prayers, the prayers of all of you, I may be granted to you. Paul is assuming that the Colossian Church is praying on his behalf, and the scriptural injunctions on prayer clearly show that we ought to be praying for one another regularly, and Paul assumed that to be the case with this church? And Paul is clearly conscious of the effectiveness of prayer.

As I said, he doesn't say, I hope to be set free from prison. I hope the Romans let me go soon. He says, I hope that through your prayers, I may be granted to you. I hope that because you have been continually praying for me, God may answer your prayers and I may be granted to you, I may be released to come back to see you. Paul knows the effectiveness of prayer.

There is only one who can grant Paul to come to them. There's only one who can grant him to be released from prison and that's God. He knows that God will answer their prayer. It's God who hears, who answers prayer, and who is the one who will enable him to be joined back to this church and see them face to face again. God is the one ultimately in charge of his life and whether or not he gets out of prison is in the hand of the same sovereign God who brought Onesimus from Philemon in the first place.

God is the one who may answer their prayers and enable him to come back. And now some may may question us well if you believe in the absolute sovereignty of God, God has ordained all things whatsoever comes to comes to pass as our confession says, why pray? If God's ordained it, why pray? And I understand why that can be difficult, but I want to also turn the question on its head if God If God does not have all authority over all things that happen, why pray? Paul does not see any conflict in the sovereignty of God and prayer.

He tells us to pray without ceasing. Bring all your requests before God. Because God is sovereign, we make our requests known to him. Because God rules and reigns with unshakable might, we can have confidence that he can actually answer our prayers. Paul has here, I hope that because you've been praying for me, God will grant what your prayers have been for and that I will be released against all odds.

I'll be released and I'll be able to see you again face to face because God is the one ultimately in charge of the affairs of men. We pray not in spite of God's sovereignty but because of God's sovereignty And because of that sovereignty we can have hope that he will answer and that He will grant us What we desire So we have here in verses 21 and 22 Paul's confidence his confidence in Philemon and his confidence in God, and now the conclusion in verses 23 to 25. In 23 and 24, we have the typical greetings that we have at the end of Paul's letters. He sends greetings on behalf of those who are with him. And it's really easy to just skim over these and just kind of let it go over our heads and not really think about what it's saying.

Same thing with the opening of letters, But we really need to think of what this means, what these greetings mean. He's sending greetings on behalf of these people. And what does Paul say? He calls Epaphras a fellow prisoner. He calls the others Mark, Aristarchus, Demas, Luke, fellow laborers.

And I want us to see here how he sees these believers, though they're not apostles, though they have, as far as we know, no office in the church, he sees them as co-laborers. He sees them as being equal to himself. The Apostle, the Apostle Paul, the one who's written so much of what we see today as the authoritative and fallible Word of God, this one who God blessed tremendously in his ministry gave him this role that is basically unparalleled. He doesn't lift himself up. He doesn't exalt himself.

He doesn't put himself in a place above them. He doesn't put these other believers at his feet. They're co-laborers. They're fellow workers. There's an equality.

Even though there's a difference in role, and Paul had a very unique role, the role of an apostle that we believe does not exist today. There is this equality, equality before Christ. Though there are different roles, there are different gifts each one of us have. Not everyone's called to pastor a church. Not everyone's called to do mission.

We're all united in this one family, brothers and sisters in the Lord. From the one who has the the top spot so to speak, the Apostle, the elders of the church, the deacons, the everyday laymen, all are united in this one magnificent labor of making the gospel of Christ known in whatever sphere or circle God has placed us in. There's this unity because we're all part of this family. In verse 25, the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit. Amen.

Here he again is addressing The the the the yore is plural. It's not simply Philemon. It's Philemon, Athea, Anarchipas, and the church in their house. The only way that we can live this life of unity, of reconciliation, of cross-shaped love and forgiveness is if the grace of Christ is with us. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit because it is only by that grace any of this.

It's not in our own power. We are so self-centered and Centered and focused on ourselves in and of ourselves We could not live like what Paul is calling us to live here apart from the grace of Christ It's far easier to hold on to offenses and to let bitterness rise and hold on to resentment and anger. That's our natural inclination, but the grace that saves and makes you right with God is the same grace that enables you to forgive and love and be united in this church family. Because this cross that we've been hearing about, this salvation that Jesus brought, not only makes Christians, but it's also making a church. He's not only making us right with God, He's making us right with one another so we can love not only God but love one another And so as we we finish this letter and I think at least for myself What immediately comes to mind is I wonder how it turned out.

I wonder what happened. We don't know, But I think that we can join with Paul and his confidence in Philemon's obedience. I look forward to one day knowing. But the main point for us today as we finish this Epistle is to see how the gospel is at work in the church, in our own lives, in the relationships we have with one another, how the gospel doesn't only there to forgive one another to live at peace see dirty broken relationships and this corrupt society around us the grace of Christ comes and enables us to live at peace. We have here a beautiful demonstration and illustration of what Paul said to the Galatians, a faith working through love.

We have in the tradition of the church, the universal church, not our church, another reference to an onesimus. We don't know that this is the same onesimus. We don't know for sure, but tradition tells us it is. But we have another reference to Onesimus in the epistle of Ignatius, Ignatius of Antioch, not Ignatius Loyola, very, very different person, Don't get those confused. The epistle of Ignatius of Antioch to the Ephesians.

If you know your early church fathers, Ignatius was on his way to his martyrdom, and he wrote several letters to different churches and he one was an epistle to the Ephesians. And he wrote to the Ephesians, Since therefore I have received in God's name your whole congregation in the person of Onesimus, a man of inexpressible love, who is also your earthly bishop. I pray that you will love him in accordance with the standards set by Jesus Christ, and that all of you will be like him. For blessed is the one who has graciously allowed you, worthy as you are, to have such a bishop." and this onesimus that Ignatius referred to was martyred under the reign of Domitian. And so if this tradition is accurate, Philemon, think about what we have.

We have a unprofitable runaway slave by the grace of God, reconciled, brought into the church, and eventually becomes a pastor of another church and an example of Christ-like love. Again, who knows but God whether or not it's the same monestimus but it's exciting to think and I like to hope it is. So as far as application, not only from this section, but from this entire letter, what can we learn? I have quickly three things. First of all, consider how the cross should change your day-to-day life.

It's not only changed your eternity, but it should change your life now. Paul was given an almost certainly unexpected opportunity to evangelize Onesimus, and not only that, but to also show a substitutionary love and fulfilling the role of a mediator in reconciling him with this one that he was separated from. He played it here. And can the same be said of us? Has the cross changed how we love and how we live.

Secondly, one clear way that we can show that love of the cross, reconcile with one another. If there's anyone in the church that you're in conflict with, reconcile with them. Go to your brother. Be reconciled to one another. Christ said that the world will know we're his disciples by our love for one another and is that true of us?

And lastly again what verse 22 really gripped me with our prayers. Do we have confidence in our prayers? It's not the main point of this letter, Paul mentions it almost in passing, But do we have that confidence, that hope that God hears our prayers, that he will answer our prayers? Do we pray expecting that God will give us the grace to endure our trials? Do we pray expecting that he will rescue us from our temptations?

Do we pray that we would have the opportunity to be Paul here and preach the gospel so that others may experience that grace of Christ that we have seen in our own hearts. So as we finish this and as our pastor said, all this comes back to love. So much of God's Word comes back to love. Love God, love your neighbor, but you can only do that because God has first loved you. What that costs Christ.

We heard about that this morning and may that cross change how we live and how we move throughout this world every day. Let's pray. Our Father, we thank you for this wonderful letter that you've given your church. We thank you, God, that you have preserved your word for us and that you have spoken in it to teach us not only teaching us doctrine though doctrine is invaluable important but teaching us what it means to put that doctrine into practice, to teach us how to love as Christ has loved us. Lord, I pray that you would extend your love to each one of us here.

Lord, if there is any here who do not yet call one of us or several of us to be a pull to them To make Christ known that you may answer our prayers to cause them Lord to be born again to know you To have their sins forgiven Lord may you be gracious to our children. God, may you be gracious to each one of us. And Lord, may your grace teach us to love one another and to extend that grace to one another. May we truly be a church known for its love and God may you be glorified in our own lives and our love for one another. May you be glorified as we make the cross of Christ known.

In His name we pray. Amen.