Philemon means "loving, kindhearted," and may well speak to us of a loving heavenly Father. The sinner does not know Him as that. "The trembling sinner feareth that God can ne'er forget."
Onesimus means "profitable;" but how unprofitable he had proven! Just as man, who was created by God for His own glory and praise, turns his back on God and goes away from Him and refuses His love, so Onesimus leaves his loving, kindhearted master and goes to Rome. He sinks, as we may gather from the letter of Paul, to the lowest depths, until finally he reaches a Roman prison; and if he were to be known as a runaway slave, his master could demand his punishment by death. The sinner away from God is "condemned already," and only awaiting the day of judgment to have the sentence executed.
But in his extremity Onesimus finds one to help, one who has laid aside his high-sounding, kingly name of Saul, and taken the humble name of Paul, meaning "little,"-one who was a prisoner, and begets a son in his bonds.
How like the blessed Lord Jesus, "who being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, and took upon Him the form of a servant, and humbled Himself," and who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, and through that death begets many sons, and brings them to glory.
Verse 11-"Was unprofitable."A sinner's picture. " There is none righteous; no, not one. There __ none that understandeth; there is none that seeketh after God. They are all gone out of the way; they are together become unprofitable; there is none ; that doeth good; no, not one."
Verse 12-"Receive him;" and verse 17 emphasizes this:"receive him as myself." Accepted in the Beloved! accepted in all the fulness of what Christ is to God!-in the person of the Son as near as He, as dear as He! accepted in all the value of the holy, spotless, peerless, undefiled One!
Can we doubt, or tremble, or fear, when such is the case !
Ah, no! there is perfect peace when we know that the measure of our acceptance by God is His Son.
Like David showing kindness to a helpless Mephibosheth for the sake of a beloved Jonathan, so God shows His kindness and love to a guilty, hell-deserving sinner for the sake of His beloved Son.
Verse 15-"Receive him forever." When we are accepted in the Beloved and received by God, we have everlasting life-life lasting forever. Not a temporal thing, not a transitory possession, but a new life, eternal in the heavens. "Verily, verily, I say unto you, he that heareth My word, and believeth on Him that sent Me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but is passed from death unto life." " I give unto them eternal life." "Of all which the Father hath given Me, I should lose nothing, but raise it up again at the last day." "That every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on Him, may have everlasting life; and I will raise him up at the last day." God receives the sinner forever, who comes in the name of Jesus Christ, and no one can pluck us out of the Father's hand. Blessed place! blessed portion!
Verse 16-"Not now as a servant, but above a servant." We have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear, but the spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, "Abba, Father." How much more blessed it is to be a child of God than a servant! We are no more servants, but sons. Not under the bondage of law, but free to serve God in all the gladness and joy of sons. Would not Onesimus serve his master in the Lord with a service far beyond that which he had rendered him in the old days ? Will not a child of God who knows his sins forgiven serve, not in the oldness of the letter but in the newness of the Spirit ? "The love of Christ constraining us " is a far greater incentive to true service than the bondage of "This do, and thou shalt live."
And then-
Verses 17, 18, 19-Paul provides for the payment of all Onesimus' debt. "One full payment cleareth His memory of all debt." "The blood of Jesus Christ, God's Son, cleanseth us from all sin." He offered one sacrifice for sins and then sat down forever.
All that Satan ever has urged, or can urge, against us has been purged and cleansed-all wiped out-by the precious blood of the Lord Jesus Christ which He shed on Calvary, in His infinite sacrifice. My soul, take comfort in this-that thou canst no more be lost, when resting in Christ, than He could be! It is not rashness that gives the soul this confidence; it is simple faith in the word of God.
And when Onesimus is fully established in the household of faith, he has something to look forward to.
Verse 22-"Prepare me a lodging:… I shall be given unto you." All may not be sunshine in the place to which the servant is sent. There may be misunderstandings with fellow-servants. There may be disappointment and sorrow, but he has one thing ' to look forward to-the coming of the One to whom he owes all.
And so have we. In the world we shall have tribulation, but He to whom we owe all is coming for us. "I will come again and receive you unto Myself." May God rest our hearts in this precious promise, for His name's sake! F. L. F.