Philemon
3 Outlines
Philemon 1:1-7
TALKING TO A FRIEND
Paul was talking to his
old friend, Philemon (Vss. 1-2). The things he said to Philemon should be
things that we are able to honestly say to our Christian friends.
GOOD WISHES - Vs. 3
Grace
Peace
GOOD WORDS - Vss. 4-6
Thanking God for our
friends in prayer - Vs. 4
Being encouraged by our
friend's love and faith - Vs. 5
Asking God for Spiritual
development in the lives of our friends - Vs. 6
GOOD WORKS - Vs. 7
We should rejoice in the
good works of our friends, and encourage them to do more!
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PHILEMON 1:1-7
FORGIVING CHARACTER
#1 of 2 on Philemon
Philemon is a book that talks about forgiveness.
Forgiveness is important – Ephesians 4:32, Colossians
3:13
We all know that we ought to forgive others. But all too often we fail to actually follow
through and do so.
In the first 7 verses of this one chapter epistle Paul
is appealing to the Christian character of Philemon before he appeals that He
forgive.
Indeed, the best way to be able to forgive is to have
a forgiving character. If you have the
right kind of character, you will find it easier to forgive. So tonight let’s look at just what a
Forgiving Character is!
HIS POSITION IN CHRIST – Vss. 1-2
Vs. 1 – This is the most personal of Paul’s
letters, although it was probably intended to be read in the church. Paul reminds Philemon of exactly what his
condition is as he writes! He is a
prisoner.
A prisoner is someone who is restricted. He is not free to go and come as he pleases.
Many people today are prisoners as well.
·
They are prisoners to poor health.
·
They are prisoners to unforgiveness.
·
They are prisoners to bitterness.
·
They are prisoners in marriage, family, work, church,
or school situations that they can not change.
I find it interesting that Paul didn’t say he was a
prisoner because of the Jews or because of the Romans. Paul saw Himself as a
prisoner of Jesus Christ.
Paul was in prison for Christ’s sake. He was willing to be restricted for the cause
of Jesus Christ. In fact, while he was
in prison, he was very productive in sharing the Gospel. Philippians 1:12-13
There are some prisons that we need to break out of
for Christ’s sake. We should not be in
the prisons of bad habits, bad attitudes, or bad words. For Christ’s sake we should submit to being
His prisoner and break out!
There are other prisons that we may never get out of
until we leave this life such as physical or family situations. The way to
handle these situations is to realize that whatever “prison” that I am in that
is not of my own choosing is of His choosing.
In other words, if it is a situation that I am in that
I can not with God’s Help remove myself from it, it is
a prison of His choosing. When I am
Christ’s prisoner it means that I accept the situation as from Him and trust
Him for the strength to get through it. Romans 8:28
Also, seeing myself as Christ’s prisoner will help me
have a forgiving character. When I’m
Christ’s prisoner, He is responsible for my care. He is also the one who tells me what to
do. To be a good prisoner of Christ I
must be a good forgiver of others.
Paul’s position was as a prisoner.
Philemon’s position was first of “Dearly Beloved”.
Because Philemon was a fellow believer he was “beloved”
of Paul. He was a Christian brother.
This is to be one of the great characteristics of the church. We are to love our brothers and sisters in
Christ. John 13:34-35
Philemon was assured that he was loved by Paul and
others who had the same fellowship in Christ.
You too are loved by other brothers and sisters in
Christ.
Often, when you meet someone and find them to be
fellow Christians there is instant camaraderie.
Being loved by Paul would have helped Philemon forgive
Onesimus. Philemon would have realized that it was someone who loved him that
was asking him to forgive.
Sometimes it will take an appeal from a third party;
who we know loves us in Christ, to encourage us to forgive someone else.
Philemon was also a “fellow laborer”. He was not a missionary or a pastor. He was, however, one who had assisted Paul
and others in the great work of the church and getting out the Gospel.
Each one of us is to be a fellow laborer in the cause
of Christ. There are things that all of
us can do to contribute the well being of the church family.
·
We can pray.
·
We can bring.
·
We can do good things to others.
·
We can share.
·
We can encourage.
When we see ourselves as fellow laborers, partners in
the cause, it will be easier for us to see that bitterness and unforgiveness is
going to hurt the cause. Hopefully, we
will not want our attitude, to hurt the cause of Christ.
HIS PRIVILEGES IN CHRIST – Vs. 3
By way of a Christian greeting of that day Philemon
was reminded of two great privileges he had in Christ. They are grace and
peace.
Philemon had already been saved by grace.
Philemon already knew about the “unmerited favor” that
changed his life.
Philemon had already discovered that his own salvation
was based on God’s grace. Ephesians 2:8-9
Philemon also knew about another special blessing,
peace.
Before a person is saved God and he are at odds
because of the sin in our lives. Sin
causes a barrier between us and God.
There is a war going on.
The war between God and us ends the minute we trust
the Lord Jesus Christ as Savior. Romans 5:1
In one sense of the words, we received all the grace
and peace needed for salvation the moment we were saved. We need no more saving grace,
and there is no more war between us and God.
In another sense, however, we never run out of our
need for grace and peace.
We need grace from God to handle life’s problems.
We need grace from God to tolerate others.
We need grace from God in order to serve Him well.
We need the peace of God ruling in our hearts when we
face trials and tribulations.
Grace and peace are available as we seek them from
God. 2 Peter 3:18, Philippians 4:6-7
As we enjoy the grace of God working in our lives, we
will tend to be more forgiving.
As we enjoy the peace of God ruling in our hearts, we
will tend to be more forgiving.
HIS PRINCIPLES IN CHRIST – Vss. 4-5, 7
There were three principles at work in Philemon’s life
that would have helped him to be a forgiving person.
Vs. 5 - The first principal at work in
Philemon’s life was love. Not only was
Philemon loved, but he was a lover.
Philemon had a tremendous love towards the Lord Jesus
Christ.
This is not to be the exception among Christians. It
is to be the norm.
Every Christian should be tremendously in love with
the Lord Jesus Christ, and we should want to love Him more each day. 1 John
4:19
The more I love the Lord Jesus, the more I should want
to obey Him. John 14:15
John 14:15 - If
ye love me, keep my commandments.
One of the things that Jesus encouraged was
forgiveness. Luke 17:3-4
If I truly love Jesus I will tend to forgive others.
Not only did Philemon love Christ, He loved fellow
Christians. When somebody already loves
someone else in Christ, there should be a readiness to forgive.
The second principle that Philemon lived by was faith.
Philemon, of course, exercised faith when he trusted
Christ as his Savior.
But it is evident that he was noted for a living
faith, a real faith that took action.
One of the ways Philemon would have been a person of
faith was when it came to the Word of God.
He would have believed God’s Word and then acted on it.
We know that we are people of faith when we read God’s
Word or hear it preached and actually do what it says!
Because Philemon was a man of faith, when Paul told
him to do what was Biblical, that is forgive, he would have had a tendency to
do so.
Often when it comes to forgiveness we find ourselves
doing so, not because we want to, but because it is the right thing to do.
God’s Word tells us to forgive, and by faith we
forgive! Ephesians 4:32
Vs. 7 gives us a third principle at work in
Philemon’s life.
Philemon was refreshing.
His love was so real that other people were refreshed
by his actions and his words.
When we are in the habit of being a blessing to
others, it is natural to forgive, when we realize that it is the refreshment
that another needs.
Three principles were at work – love, faith,
refreshment.
HIS POTENTIAL IN CHRIST – Vs. 6
Paul desired Philemon’s communication or fellowship of
faith with others would be stronger.
Philemon had the potential to forgive Onesimus because
he had all that he needed in Him to forgive.
Philemon had every spiritual blessing necessary to
forgive.
All Philemon had to do was use the blessings he had in
Christ.
Remember, when we have the Lord Jesus inside us we
have the power of the Holy Spirit inside us.
As we acknowledge our need to forgive and the power of
the Holy Spirit to enable us to forgive we will be able to forgive.
The potential is there in Christ. All we need to do is allow God to fulfill our
potential!
HIS POSITION IN CHRIST – Vss. 1-2
HIS PRIVILEGES IN CHRIST – Vs. 3
HIS PRINCIPLES IN CHRIST – Vss. 4-5, 7
HIS POTENTIAL IN CHRIST – Vs. 6
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Philemon 1:8-21
INTERVENTION FOR A FRIEND
Onesimus was a runaway slave belonging to a friend of
Paul's named Philemon. Evidently their paths crossed in a Roman jail. He was gloriously saved, but needed to make
things right with his master. Paul sent
Onesimus back to Philemon, but intervened in Onesimus' behalf.
THE PRINCIPLE - Vss. 8-9 - FOR LOVE'S SAKE
Paul could have ordered Philemon to do what was right,
but instead made a request based on love.
THE PERSON- Vss. 10-12 - ONESIMUS
His name means "profitable", but he was
unprofitable.
He became Paul's son in the faith. Paul led him to
Christ.
He was now profitable.
He was now to be received back by Philemon
THE PREFERENCE - Vss. 13-14 - TO KEEP ONESIMUS
Paul would have like to have kept Onesimus with him.
However he would do nothing like that without
Philemon's approval.
THE POSSIBILITY - Vss. 15-16 - A PERMANENT SERVANT AND
BROTHER
THE PETITION - Vs. 17 - RECEIVE ONESIMUS AS HE WOULD
PAUL
THE PRICE - Vss. 18-21 - PAUL WOULD PAY WHATEVER WAS
OWED BY ONESIMUS
However Paul reminded Philemon how much Philemon owed
Paul.
Note - Because of all the points, this would probably
be a better Sunday School lesson than a sermon. By the way, when you teach Sunday School, it might be helpful to hand out a simple outline so
your folks can follow along easier.
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