Please turn in your Bibles this morning to Paul’s letter to Philemon, a very short letter and yet a very powerful letter dealing with forgiveness and the providence of God. This morning we are going to deal with the latter subject, the providence of God because I believe it is important for us to understand, to believe in God’s care and guidance in our lives. Let me share with you this example to show you what I mean. Warren Wiersbe tells us:
John Wesley’s father, Samuel, was a dedicated pastor, but there were those in his parish who did not like him. On February 9, 1709, a fire broke out in the rectory at Epworth, possibly set by one of the rector’s enemies. Young John, not yet six years old, was stranded on an upper floor of the building. Two neighbors rescued the lad just seconds before the roof crashed in. One neighbor stood on the other’s shoulders and pulled young John through the window. Samuel Wesley said, “Come, neighbors, let us kneel down. Let us give thanks to God. He has given me all my eight children. Let the house go. I am rich enough.” John Wesley often referred to himself as a “brand plucked out of the fire” (Zech 3:2; Amos 4:11). In later years he often noted February 9 in his journal and gave thanks to God for His mercy. Samuel Wesley labored for 40 years at Epworth and saw very little fruit; but consider what his family accomplished!
- Warren Wiersbe, Wycliffe Handbook of Preaching and Preachers, p. 251
You see, while you are going through a difficult situation you may not understand why, in fact it may even be discouraging to you, you may wonder what in the world God is doing. But as you look back, as you pass through that situation, you see the hand of God all through it, that He has a plan and a purpose. My prayer as we go through these passages this morning in Philemon and some other Scriptures, is that we would learn to trust in the providence of God and see that God means things for good in the end, even though we may not see it in the present situation we are in.
Paul wrote this letter while he was in prison in Rome, under house arrest and this is part of the letters known as the Prison Epistles which were: Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians and Philemon. The recipient of this letter was a very wealthy, godly man named Philemon who lived in Colosse and at his house they gathered together for church, to worship God, it was one of the churches there in Colosse. Also, Tychicus not only delivered Paul’s letter to the Colossians, but at the same time I believe he delivered this letter to Philemon who lived in Colosse.
The reason Paul wrote to Philemon was because one of his slaves, Onesimus ran away and he not only ran away but it seems that he stole some things from Philemon. Obviously this was not a good thing and Rome was on the look out for renegade slaves, troublemakers. You see, Rome had some 60 million slaves, 25% of its population were slaves and because of that, any slave that ran away could be put to death or branded with a red hot iron placing an “F” on their forehead for FUGITIVUS or runaway, fugitive. In other words, you were a marked man, everyone who saw you knew you were trouble and would be watching you. In fact, many slave owners didn’t even consider their slaves as human, they were a possession to them and they could do as they please with them.
I don’t believe that was the case with Philemon, he was a Christian, but to have a slave run away was bad and then to steal from you before he did was even worse. Thus, Philemon was probably not too happy with Onesimus, he was probably a little angry towards him and he could put Onesimus to death if he ever found him, Rome permitted it and encouraged it!
Onesimus, understanding the situation he placed himself in, fled to Rome to hide out among the wicked, the evil people, to kind of blend in with society. With that as our background, let’s begin reading in verse 10 of Paul’s letter to Philemon and see the providence of God at work!
Onesimus makes his great escape, he flees to Rome to blend in, to hide out, to be camouflaged with the other riffraff of the city and he ends up meeting Paul, who is under house arrest, chained to at least one Roman soldier at all times. What luck! Now I personally don’t believe in good luck or bad luck, and I am not sure how Onesimus felt at first if this was good luck or bad luck, but the reality is, this has nothing to do with luck. It has everything to do with the providence of God, the hand of God guiding Onesimus, even though he didn’t know it at the time.
You see, God took a bad situation, Onesimus running away, stealing from his master and He is going to turn it around for good. As Paul spoke to this young run away slave, Onesimus gave his heart to the Lord, he was saved, he asked Jesus to be Lord and Savior of his life!
Interestingly enough his name means “profitable” and in verse 11 Paul makes a play on words. You see, “He that was unprofitable, Onesimus, is now profitable to you and me. Now he is going to live up to his name because he has a new nature, he is a new creation in Christ!” Paul put it this way in II Corinthians 5:17, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.”
Paul also realizes that Onesimus is still a run away slave and just because he is a Christian now, it does not negate his responsibility to pay restitution for his actions, to return or pay back what he stole from Philemon. In fact, he could still be put to death for his actions. So Paul is sending him back to Philemon and he wants Philemon to treat him as he would treat Paul, to forgive him for his actions!
And then Paul makes this comment, which sheds some light on everything. Starting in verse 15 Paul says, “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.” vv. 15-16.
Do you see what Paul is saying here? “Philemon, look at the hand of God in this situation. This once unprofitable slave has come to know Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior and has now become profitable to not only you, but to God! He is now a brother in the Lord and part of the body of Christ, so when I send him back to you, receive him accordingly!” Paul did not hold back, he laid it all out on the table for Philemon to see and then to respond accordingly, not according to the flesh, which would respond with anger, but with the love of God, the forgiveness of God!
It is always amazing to see the hand of God at work in situations that many times seem hopeless. In fact, in 110 A.D. the bishop of Ephesus was a man named Onesimus. Could this bishop be that run away slave? I believe it is a strong possibility, we don’t know for sure though. If Onesimus was in his late teens or early twenties when he ran away, he would have been around 70 in 110 A.D. Thus, he could have been the bishop in Ephesus!
It is as Paul said in verse 11 from The Living Bible, “Onesimus (whose name means ‘Useful’) hasn't been of much use to you in the past, but now he is going to be of real use to both of us.” Isn’t it amazing how God, in His providence, working in each of our lives, using the things of this world, is making us into a masterpiece for his glory? He is taking that which was unprofitable and making it profitable for Him! What a great God we have if we would only learn to trust in Him, to realize that Father knows best!
Now even today people do try to run away from God, but in doing so, they are moving many times right where He wants them to be, in the situations He wants them to be in because He knows what it will take to draw them back into His arms, to chisel off some of those ruff edges in their lives, it is the providence of God. Peter Marshall tells of an interesting story that kind of paints the picture of what we are talking about, except he is looking at it from a different angle. He said:
An old legend tells of a merchant in Baghdad who one day sent his servant to the market. Before very long the servant came back, white and trembling, and in great agitation and said to his master: “Down at the market place I was jostled by a woman in the crowd, and when I turned around I saw it was death that jostled me. She looked at me and made a threatening gesture. Master, please lend me your horse, for I must hasten away to avoid her. I will ride to Samarra and there I will hide, and Death will not find me.”
The merchant lent him his horse and the servant galloped away in great haste. Later the merchant went down to the market place and saw Death standing in the crowd. He went over to her and asked, “Why did you frighten my servant this morning? Why did you make a threatening gesture?”
“That was not a threatening gesture,” Death said. “It was only a start of surprise. I was astonished to see him in Baghdad, for I have an appointment with him tonight in Samarra.”
- Peter Marshall, John Doe, Disciple: Sermons for the Young in Spirit
Folks, even Satan is fulfilling the plan of God, as shocking as that may sound. He is giving people a choice on who they will follow, who they will serve. And even with all the evil that he is doing, God will use it to fulfill His ultimate plan. Think about it, when the followers of Jesus turned on Him, when the Jewish religious leaders sentenced Him to death, when Rome nailed Him to the cross of Calvary and then 6 hours later He died, I’m sure there was rejoicing in the realms of Satan and his demonic forces. But three days later the party was over as Jesus rose from the dead, having paid in full the penalty for our sins and now conquering death, telling us that no longer will sin keep us from God nor will death! Do you see the providence of God in all that! He knows the end from the beginning and He has a plan, He is still working!
Now please, in saying that don’t come to the wrong conclusion that God forces people to do certain things to fulfill His plan, His purpose, like with Judas. Not at all, but God will use what man is going to do to bring about His goals, like He did with our salvation. It is the providence of God!
Now if I were to ask you this morning, “How many of you believe in the providence of God?” I think most if not all of you would raise your hand. Then what happens when we are going through tough times, tough situations and we begin to doubt God, we begin to wonder what He is doing or if He is too busy to help us or maybe He can’t help us in the situation we are in? I believe that attitude comes from being nearsighted, we can’t see the end of the story, we don’t know the future outcome and because of that, we become discouraged, upset, frustrated, depressed and-so-on. Folks like it or not, it is a lack of faith on our part when we do feel that way.
Let me show you what I mean by being nearsighted in a situation. Remember the story of Jacob, also called Israel, and his 12 sons. One of them he loved more than the others, I think he trusted him more than he did the others, and that son was named Joseph. And Joseph had a couple of dreams where he was being exalted and not only did his brothers bow down before him but so did his mother and father. Guess what, his brothers didn’t like what Joseph was saying, imagine that, and they hated him for it, they wanted him dead this dreamer of dreams!
One day Jacob sends his son Joseph to Shechem to make sure his brothers were doing what they were suppose to be doing, Jacob did not trust them. As his brothers saw Joseph coming they wanted to kill him but instead they threw him in a pit and then sold him as a slave to Midianite slave traders who in turn sold him to Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh, he was the captain of the guard.
As Joseph’s brothers returned home they gave to Jacob this long sleeved robe or multi-colored robe that was covered with blood and Jacob recognized it was Joseph’s and came to the conclusion that a wild animal killed Joseph. Jacob’s sons went along with that story, that is what they wanted their dad to think, they were not going to tell him that they sold him to Midianite slave traders!
As he served in Potiphar’s house he was in charge of everything, God blessed him and then Potiphar’s wife wanted Joseph, she wanted to sleep with him. So she sent all the other servants away and tried to seduce Joseph and he ran away. When Potiphar found out, he had Joseph placed in prison, which tells me he knew his wife. You see, if Potiphar really believed that Joseph tried to rape his wife he would have put him to death, but to save face, knowing the behavior of his wife, he only placed him in prison.
While in prison he once again found favor with the guard and one day he ran into Pharaoh’s butler and baker. You see, they were placed in prison because Pharaoh found out that one of them was trying to assassinate him and he didn’t know which one, so he placed them both in prison until he could figure it out. While in prison they both had a dream and didn’t know what it meant. Joseph, upon hearing this listened to the dream of the butler and said, “. . . ‘This is the interpretation of it: The three branches are three days. Now within three days Pharaoh will lift up your head and restore you to your place, and you will put Pharaoh's cup in his hand according to the former manner, when you were his butler. But remember me when it is well with you, and please show kindness to me; make mention of me to Pharaoh, and get me out of this house.’” Genesis 40:12-14.
The baker, upon hearing Joseph interpret the dream for the butler wanted his dream interpreted, he was excited, he wanted to see what was in store for him. And we are told, “So Joseph answered and said, ‘This is the interpretation of it: The three baskets are three days. Within three days Pharaoh will lift off your head from you and hang you on a tree; and the birds will eat your flesh from you.’” Genesis 40:18-19.
And that is exactly what happened, in three days the baker was hanged and the butler was restored but when he returned to Pharaoh he did not remember what Joseph did for him, he did not speak of Joseph before Pharaoh for 2 full years. Can you imagine Joseph sitting in prison, not having done anything wrong and how could he feel the providence of God in a situation like that? But I truly believe that he did, he saw the hand of God upon his life and we will see that in a few minutes.
Then Pharaoh has a couple of dreams that he doesn’t understand. He saw seven cows, good looking, solid but then out of the river came up seven cows that looked bad, skinny, ugly, and the dream ended. Then he had another dream and saw seven heads of grain, healthy and then seven thin heads of grain came up afterwards that looked thin and devoured the seven plump grains, and the dream ended. Now in the morning, as Pharaoh woke up and the butler saw something was wrong, Pharaoh explained the dreams and that he didn’t understand them and when the butler heard of this he remembered Joseph and tells Pharaoh of a man in prison that could interpret dreams. And Joseph is brought before him and told the dream.
Now, starting in verse 25 of Genesis chapter 41 we are told, “Then Joseph said to Pharaoh, ‘The dreams of Pharaoh are one; God has shown Pharaoh what He is about to do: The seven good cows are seven years, and the seven good heads are seven years; the dreams are one. And the seven thin and ugly cows which came up after them are seven years, and the seven empty heads blighted by the east wind are seven years of famine. This is the thing which I have spoken to Pharaoh. God has shown Pharaoh what He is about to do. Indeed seven years of great plenty will come throughout all the land of Egypt; but after them seven years of famine will arise, and all the plenty will be forgotten in the land of Egypt; and the famine will deplete the land. So the plenty will not be known in the land because of the famine following, for it will be very severe. And the dream was repeated to Pharaoh twice because the thing is established by God, and God will shortly bring it to pass.’” Genesis 41:25-32.
Pharaoh saw the hand of God, the wisdom of God, the Spirit of God upon Joseph’s life and placed him second in charge over all of Egypt, in charge of the food gathering for the first seven years to prepare for the famine and then the food distribution for the seven years of famine. The providence of God! But the story is not over yet.
As the seven years of famine hit Egypt, it also affected the land of Canaan and Jacob heard about the food program down there in Egypt so he sends his sons, all of them except Benjamin, the brother of Joseph. As they arrive down there they did not recognize Joseph but he recognized them and he didn’t tell them. As they explain to Joseph who they are and what they are doing there they tell him that they have another brother Benjamin who is still in Canaan and Joseph who was killed. Upon hearing that his brother Benjamin is still alive, he threatens them as being spies and one of them is going to be placed in prison until they come back with this other brother, Benjamin. They are shocked, they don’t know what to do but Simeon is placed in prison and they return home with the food they came for, and something they didn’t expect. Joseph had secretly placed their money back in the packs so now it looks like they stole the food!
As they return home without Simeon and now with the food and the money, they tell their father Jacob what took place and we are told in Genesis 42:36, “And Jacob their father said to them, ‘You have bereaved me: Joseph is no more, Simeon is no more, and you want to take Benjamin. All these things are against me.’” I don’t think Jacob saw the providence of God in this situation, in his life, he felt that everything was against him!
Now, as we look at the situation through purely human eyes, he is right. It does seem like all these things were against him, that it was a hopeless situation. How often do we find ourselves in situations where we say, “All these things are against me”? Yes, from a nearsighted perspective, it may look that way, but that is not the end of the story!
Joseph does reveal himself to his brothers and they have an emotional reunion and his father comes down to Egypt, a 265-mile journey, they see each other before Jacob dies. Not only that, but Jacob brought his family down to Egypt, seventy people and they had plenty of food during the years of famine, God sustained them. And out of those seventy people that went down to Egypt, some 400 years later as they left the land in the exodus, over 2 million went, they had grown into a nation and God was going to bring them into the land.
Now, let me ask you this question. “Was everything against Jacob?” Not at all, the providence of God, the hand of God was at work. What a great lesson for us to learn, that as difficult, as bad as a situation might be for us, not all things are against us, but God is at work. Remember what Paul said in Romans 8:31-39, “What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things? Who shall bring a charge against God's elect? It is God who justifies. Who is he who condemns? It is Christ who died, and furthermore is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written: ‘For Your sake we are killed all day long; We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.’ Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” You see, God is on our side, He is working for our good, even though we might not see it that way in the short term, but in the end, as we look back, we will see the hand of God at work!
Joseph was a man of faith, he saw the bigger picture even though at times he might not have understood all that was happening, what God was doing, but he did see the hand of God upon his life and he trusted in the Lord. In Genesis 45:4-8, as Joseph tells his brothers who he is, we are told, “And Joseph said to his brothers, ‘Please come near to me.’ So they came near. Then he said: ‘I am Joseph your brother, whom you sold into Egypt. But now, do not therefore be grieved or angry with yourselves because you sold me here; for God sent me before you to preserve life. For these two years the famine has been in the land, and there are still five years in which there will be neither plowing nor harvesting. And God sent me before you to preserve a posterity for you in the earth, and to save your lives by a great deliverance. So now it was not you who sent me here, but God; and He has made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house, and a ruler throughout all the land of Egypt.” And in Genesis 50:19-20 we are told, “Joseph said to them, ‘Do not be afraid, for am I in the place of God? But as for you, you meant evil against me; but God meant it for good, in order to bring it about as it is this day, to save many people alive.”
You see, Joseph looked at the situation through the eyes of faith, he saw that God’s hand was working and even though he didn’t know what God was doing as he was going through these tough times, he trusted God and then as he looked back, he saw the hand of God upon his life, the situations he was going through! That is faith, trusting in God!
James Yates makes that point in this story. He tells us:
The only survivor of a shipwreck washed up on a small-uninhabited island. He cried out to God to save him, and every day he scanned the horizon for help, but none seemed forthcoming. Exhausted, he eventually managed to build a rough hut and put his few possessions in it. But then one day, after hunting for food, he arrived home to find his little hut in flames, the smoke rolling up to the sky. The worst had happened; he was stung with grief.
Early the next day, though, a ship drew near the island and rescued him. “How did you know I was here?” he asked the crew. “We saw your smoke signal,” they replied.
Though it may not seem so now, your present difficulty may be instrumental to your future happiness.
- John Yates, Leadership, Winter Quarter, 1992, p. 57
I think it is easy for us as Christians to develop an Eeyore mentality. You know, the character from Winnie the Pooh, the donkey who was always depressed, everything was bad, nothing was good, all things were against him it seemed. Folks, instead of being Eeyore why not try being like Tigger the tiger who is bouncy, joyful, fun, looking at life from a different perspective than Eeyore did! “But you don’t know my situation, you don’t know what I am going through. It seems like all things are against me!” I may not know what you are going through but God surely does and thus, do you believe in the providence of God, that He is in control, that He is guiding your life, even though it doesn’t seem like it? You see, if you do, you can rest in that, you can trust in Him because you trust that He is leading you as you go, as Joseph did and in the end, he saw the providence of God upon his life, the hand of God, and so can you!
In Acts chapter 17 Paul is in Athens and he speaks before the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers in the Areopagus. These guys would gather to hear new things, not necessarily applying them to their lives but just to hear new information. And Paul spoke to them in Acts chapter 17 starting in verse 22 and we are told, “Then Paul stood in the midst of the Areopagus and said, ‘Men of Athens, I perceive that in all things you are very religious; for as I was passing through and considering the objects of your worship, I even found an altar with this inscription: TO THE UNKNOWN GOD. Therefore, the One whom you worship without knowing, Him I proclaim to you: God, who made the world and everything in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands. Nor is He worshiped with men's hands, as though He needed anything, since He gives to all life, breath, and all things. And He has made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth, and has determined their preappointed times and the boundaries of their dwellings, so that they should seek the Lord, in the hope that they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us; for in Him we live and move and have our being, as also some of your own poets have said, “For we are also His offspring.”’” Acts 17:22-28.
God has given to us life, He has set the boundaries of our life, how long we are going to live, the ministries we will have, the work we will do, He allows us to move. Thus, if God’s hand is upon us, if we truly trust in the providence of God, walk accordingly, trusting in Him!
Here in Philemon that is Paul’s whole point, the hand of God upon this run away slave named Onesimus, the providence of God. And Paul wants Philemon to understand that point so that his actions will not be harsh towards Onesimus but that he would treat him as he would treat Paul, as a brother in the Lord. You see, God did this work, rejoice in what God has done even though for a time it did not look good, it did not look beneficial, it may have even caused some problems with his other slaves that Philemon had. But as Paul said, “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.” vv. 15-16. May we see the hand of God upon our lives no matter what we are going through because we trust in Him, we believe in the providence of God!