The profound significance of the term "brother" within the Christian faith, drawing heavily from the Epistle to Philemon. It highlights how Paul, Timothy, and Philemon exemplify this brotherhood, with Onesimus's transformation from an unprofitable slave to a "brother beloved" serving as a central example. The message underscores that true Christian identity transcends earthly titles and social status, as all believers are equal children of God, united by Christ's sacrifice. Ultimately, it calls for extending forgiveness and love, reflecting God's own mercy, and living out the profitable life of a beloved brother in Christ.
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Paul, a prisoner of Jesus Christ, and Timothy, our brother, unto Philemon, our dearly beloved and fellow laborer, and to our beloved Apthia and Archipus, our fellow soldier, and to the church in thy house. Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. I thank my God, making mention of thee always in my prayers, hearing of thy love and faith, which thou hast toward the Lord Jesus and toward all saints. That the communication of thy faith may become effectual by the acknowledging of every good thing which is in you in Christ Jesus. For we have great joy and consolation in thy love because the bowels of the saints are refreshed by thee, brother.
Wherefore, though I might be much bold in Christ to enjoin thee that which is convenient, yet for love's sake I rather beseech thee. being such in one as Paul, the aged, and now also a prisoner of Jesus Christ. I beseech thee for my son Onesimus, whom I have begotten in my bonds, which in time past was to thee unprofitable, but now profitable to thee and to me. Whom I have said again, thou therefore receive him, that is, my own bowels, whom I would have retained with me that in thy stead he might have ministered unto me in the bonds of the gospel, but without thy mind would I do nothing? that thy benefit should not be, as it were, of necessity, but willingly.
For perhaps he therefore departed for a season that thou shouldest receive him forever. Not now as a servant, but above a servant, a brother beloved, especially to me but how much more unto thee, both in the flesh and in the Lord. If thou count me therefore a partner, receive him as myself. If he hath wronged thee, or oeth thee ought, put that on mine account. I, Paul, have written it with my own hand. I will repay it, albeit I do not say to thee how thou o'est unto me, even thine own self besides. Yea, brother, let me have joy of thee in the Lord. Refresh my bowels in the Lord.
Having confidence in thy obedience, I wrote unto thee, knowing that thou will do also more than I say. But with all, prepare me also a lodging, for I trust that through your prayers, I shall be given unto you. There salute the epiphras, my fellow prisoner in Christ Jesus. Marcus, Aristarchus, Demas, Lucas, my fellow laborers. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ will be with your spirit. Amen. There is no lovelier personal letter that has ever been written in the history of the Christian church.
A letter is God's method. Twenty-four out of the twenty-seven books of our New Testament are letters. And the last book of the Bible contains seven personal letters. of our Lord Jesus Christ addressed to the seven churches in Asia. Most people don't like to write letters, but I don't know anyone that doesn't like to receive letters. And some of us, to this day, treasure letters that we received, and we preserve them.
This letter is a model of Christian love in action, of speaking the truth in love. Do you know what the first question that man ever asked in the Bible is this question. Am I my brother's keeper? That's the first question that man raises in Scripture. And the whole of the Bible from Genesis to Revelation is an answer to that question.
I am my brother's keeper. Andrew's answer to that question is found in John chapter one. pointed to the Savior by John the Baptist and spending time with him after that interview with Christ, it says, he first findeth his own brother and brought him to Jesus. Moses' answer to that question is recorded for us in Acts chapter seven, quoted from the Old Testament, as he saw two of his brethren fighting among themselves. And he sought to bring them back together. And he says... serves ye are brethren why do ye wrong one to another Abram's herdsmen are fighting among themselves with Lot's herdsmen and the scripture says the Canaanite and the Parasite were then in the land and Abraham said what kind of a business is this that two of God's people should be fighting among themselves is it Lot take your pick you want to go that way I'll go the other way He said, we are brethren.
What a difference it makes this relationship. The Lord's answer to that question, Am I my brother's keeper? It's found in Matthew chapter twenty-five where he says, In as much as ye have done it, unto one of the least of these, my brethren, ye have done it unto me. If you bring your gift to the altar and you remember Bet your brother have ought against thee. First, said the Lord Jesus, be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gifts. Life proceeds like spiral stairs, ever returning while ascending.
We meet our deeds sometime somewhere in this life or in the life unending. The self-same cup we mingled once. the pain which we have caused another, we too must taste and prove the law that treats us as we treat our brother. Four times in this lovely little letter the term brother is used. It's the highest title in the Word of God given to a child of God. One is your master, said the Lord Jesus. One is your master. And all ye are brothers.
When our Savior arose from the dead, he said to Mary Magdalene, Go to my brethren, my brothers, and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father and your Father, to my God and your God. God, says the Apostle, writing it in Galatians, for, has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. We are children of God by faith in Christ Jesus. God is our Father.
Christ is our Savior. Heaven is our home, and it's no rinky-dink policy there. That's the whole. We're members of the royal family of God. Is anything higher than that? One is your master. All ye are brethren. Years ago, I read the autobiography of the Duke of Windsor. And only one thing I remember from the book is when his father, King George, The fifth said to him, Remember, my son, you're the child of a king. The child of a king.
Sometimes people brush along as you walk down these crowded streets and they hit you and bump into you and they don't seem to remember that they're brushing shoulders with royalty. Child of God through faith. in Christ Jesus. You know, the Lord speaks of the various gifts of the church, evangelist, pastors, teachers. Those are not titles. Those are just jobs like truck driver, garbage collector. Someone said once, the trouble with most of us, we're looking for a position and not for a job.
We already have a position. But we need to recognize that we have jobs. I heard about one young fellow. He went in and applied for a job at a bank. And the bank president who was interviewing him said, well, what kind of job are you looking for? He said, well, I thought I'd like to be a vice president. Well, he said, we've already got twelve of those. He said, well, I'm not superstitious. You know, most people are looking for a position, a position. But we already have the position. There are no titles given in the Word of God for the child of God, and none are needed.
Way back in the book of Job, you remember Eli who said, Neither let me give flattering titles unto men. One is your master, even Christ, and all ye are brethren. In Matthew chapter twenty-three, The Lord Jesus is speaking to his disciples, to his apostles. And he speaks of the rabbis who said they love to be seen in the marketplaces. They love the uppermost rooms at the feast. And they love greetings in the marketplaces to be called rabbi. Rabbi.
But he said, Be not ye called, Rabbi, for one is your master, even Christ, and all ye are brethren. Neither said he, call any man father upon earth, for one is your father, which is in heaven. And then he said, Neither be ye called masters. And it's the Greek word from which we get our word doctor. It simply means teacher. That's all the word doctor actually means, teacher. He said, don't we call any of these? In just about two or three verses, Lord Jesus says to the Jew, it's the Jews, it's the Protestants, and it's the Catholics, all in one book.
He says, don't call any man rabbi, don't call any man father, and he says, don't call any man doctor. Many years ago, my dad was speaking in Chicago at the Moody Bible Institute And just one morning, I think he was there, and they had the various dignitaries on the stage, and here was Dr. Brown and Dr. Jones and Dr. Smith and all these other doctors, and my dad happened to be speaking that morning. They introduced him as Mr. VanRyne or something like that, and he said, you know, I feel a little bit slighted. Everyone here has been given their titles except me. And he said, it so happens that I'm an LLD.
long-legged Dutchman. Titles. How we love these flattering titles, but the Word of God, while it has differences in gifts, we're not all evangelists. Some evangelists. Some shepherds. Some teachers. We don't all have these jobs. But those are not titles. They're jobs. We're all brethren, all one in Christ Jesus. The greatest leveler in the world is the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. There's a verse in Proverbs that says, The rich and the poor meet together. The rich and the poor meet together at birth.
They said he was born with a silver spoon in his mouth. Unbugged. He was born naked as a J-bird like everybody else. No one was born with a silver spoon in his mouth. What have you, says the apostle, that you have not received? And if you've received it, why do you boast as though you haven't received it? We brought nothing into this world. It's certain, says the apostle, we can carry nothing out. God levels every man at birth, and God levels every man at death. The rich and the poor meet together at death. Doesn't make any difference who you are. How great you've been in this world. When it comes to death, you're all at the same level.
The point on our men wants to die, the Scripture says. But the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ is the great leveller. There's no difference, the Bible says. We'll all sin and come short of the glory of God, all in the same level. Differences in personality and ability and all the rest of it. But as to the fact of sin, we're all in the same level. No difference. And there's no difference in the way that we've been saved. There is no difference. The same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him, and whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. In one verse in Romans sixteen, Paul speaks of Erastus, the Chamberlain. He was the treasurer of the city, a big job.
And Quarters a brother. The fellow didn't even have a name. He was a slave or had been. Quarters means number four. You know, they didn't even give you a name. Like the fellow had been in the penitentiary for years. They asked him what his name was. He said, One-five-oh-nine-six. That's your name. She says, well, it's my pen name. You know, all you've got when you're in prison is a number, quarter, number four. But you know he had the highest position, the chamber in the city. And a slave-armed brother, a part of a royal family of heaven. Saul of Tarsus, the sweetest music he ever heard.
I'm sure he heard. Here is this one who had hounded God's people to death, a persecutor. He says, I received mercy because I did it ignorantly in unbelief. The Lord stopped him on the Damascus road and revealed himself to him. I am Jesus whom thou persecutest. Ananias is told, says, go to this street, call straight in Damascus. And he says, you'll find a man in Judas, the house of praise. That's a good place to be after you're saved in the house of praise. And there he is. He says, he's on his knees praying. Behold, he pray. In my mind's eye, I can see this man as he came in.
And he sees Saul in his knees. He didn't even want to go. You remember he pretended, Lord, he says, you know what a rascal that fellow's been? go thy way. He is a chosen vessel unto me. And Ananias comes in. And Saul is bowed in prayer and humiliation. He thinks of what he has done. And this man puts his arm around Saul of Tarsus. And the first word that Paul ever heard from a believer was brother. Brother Saul, the Lord, even Jesus, who appeared unto thee in the way. It just sung its way into his heart. You know, there are some people that are able to say, Brother, in such a way, it's just like music.
Sometimes we say it so mechanically. But I've known Brother, and they would say, My dear brother, you know, you're just... My dear brother, you could feel the expression of love in the way that they said it. Brother. Saul, the Lord, even Jesus. Now in our chapter, three different men are referred to as brother. Timothy, our brother. Now Timothy's name means the one who pleases God. Secondly, we read of Philemon. He's mentioned in verse seven and twenty, addressed by Paul as brother.
Yay, brother. Let me have joy, he says in verse twenty, of thee in the Lord. Refresh my bowels in the Lord. Philemon's name means the one who kisses. The one who kisses. The one who pleases. Next the one who kisses. And then Onesimus, verse sixteen. Paul says, Don't receive him now as a servant, but as a brother beloved, especially to me. but how much more unto thee in the flesh and in the Lord. And I put alongside of Anisimus' name the one who profits.
The one who pleases, the one who kisses, and the one who profits. Let's think of these. First of all, Timothy, the one who pleases God. He was a beloved son in the faith of the Apostle Paul. In five of his letters, Paul links Timothy's name with his. Paul addresses, as we know, two letters, first and second Timothy to this man. And Paul refers to it many times in his writings. Two that I like are these. One in Philippians chapter two where he says, I have no man like-minded who will naturally care for your state, for all seek their own, not the things of Jesus Christ.
And then writing to the Corinthians in first Corinthians sixteen and verse ten he says of Timothy, He worketh the work of the Lord, even as also I do. The one who pleases God. We read in Hebrews chapter eleven of a man who pleased God. The only man I know that it states that in scripture, he pleased God. By faith, Enoch was translated, he should not see death. Before his translation, he had this testimony, that he pleased God. What were some of the marks of the reasons why he pleased God? First of all, he worshipped God. It says, He that cometh to God must believe that He is, and that He is the reward of them that diligently seek Him.
Here is a man who sought and know the living and true God. He pleased God because He sought Him. He could say, like David, this one thing of our desire of the Lord, and that will I... Seek after that I may behold the beauty of the Lord and inquire in his temple. He was a worshiper of the true God. He pleased God for that reason. Not only was he a worshiper of God, but twice over in the Old Testament it says he walked with God, which tells us he did not choose the direction of his life. God chose the direction. He walked with God. It doesn't say God walked with him, true as that was, but it says he walked with God. with God. I heard of an old black janitor years ago and he got along well with all the people in the church and somebody asked him to what did he attribute his success because everybody's got different ways they want the lights to be so the windows open and all the rest of it the air conditioning turned on.
He said, well, sir, he says, I just put it in neutral and just let them shove me around. Well, you know, really, that's exactly what we need to do to walk with God. We need to yield our members as instruments of righteousness. We need to say, not my will, but thine be done. He walked with God. Then he witnessed for God. It says in Jude chapter four that Enoch, the seventh from Adam, he said he prophesied. And he said, Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his saints to execute judgment of all.
He was faithful to his generation as a witness. And we too are called to walk with God and to witness for God. Freilemon, the one who kisses, the Lord says, you remember in Matthew chapter five, Blessed are the peacemakers, not the troublemakers, we've got enough of those, but blessed are the peacemakers. They shall be called children of God. They're just like God himself, for God delights in mercy. Wherever you go, wherever there are people, there will be problems. You don't want any problems. Go somewhere where there are no people, and you'll eliminate your problems.
To dwell above with the saints we love. That will be grace and glory. But to live below... They're the saints we know. That's a different story. You know, sometimes we feel if we could get our brother straightened out, the man came to the Lord and said, Speak to my brother. Straighten him out, Lord. We have twenty-twenty vision when we see the moat that's in the brother's eye. But, you know, seeing the beam that is in our own eyes is something else. Peak to my brother, straighten him out, Lord. And Martha said, Lord, straighten my sister out. She's left me alone to serve. Do something. Get that lady straightened out. Have you ever felt that if you'd get brother so-and-so straightened out and sister so-and-so straightened out, everything would be fine.
Problem. The one who kisses. Oh, it's good to have a forgiving spirit. That's the way God deals with the sinner. When he was yet a great way off, a father saw him and ran to meet him, threw his arms around him, and kissed him. The trembling sinner feareth that God can never forget. But Christ's full payment cleareth his memory of all debt. No wrath God's heart retaineth to us or to believe.
No dread in ours remaineth as we his love receive, returning sons. He kisses the kiss of forgiveness. And with his robe in vests, his perfect love dismisses all terror from our breasts. The kiss of forgiveness that all bitterness and wrath and evil speaking be put away from among you and be kind tender-hearted forgiving one another even as God for Christ's sake has forgiven you they say that the most difficult words in the English language to pronounce are these three I was wrong not you were wrong too forget about that I was wrong.
Secondly, I am sorry. It's hard to say that. And then thirdly, please forgive me. How long shall I forgive my brother when he sins against me seven times? Peter thought that was going way, way out. Seventy times seven, said the Lord Jesus. And that was a reference, I believe, to that Old Testament prophecy of Daniel nine. Because at the end of that seventy times seven, those seventy weeks Daniel speaks of, the Lord is going to come and he's going to straighten things out. He says, Vengeance is mine, I will repay, saith the Lord.
In the meanwhile, if thine enemy hunger, feed him. If he thirsts, give him to drink. For in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head. those brothers who had sinned so grievously, sold Joseph as a slave into Egypt. Taught they had gotten rid of him. You met it for evil, he said. But God met it for good. And that lovely expression, when Joseph revealed himself to his brother, I am Joseph your brother. What a difference it makes relationship.
I am Joseph Your brother, come near unto me, my brethren. Years ago there was a story in Reader's Digest, the story of a man up on the east coast of the United States. He was in the volunteer fire department. He'd been called upon to go down towards the coast there. There was a man who was trapped in the ledge. and the tide was rising quickly and there was no opportunity for him to be approached by sea. It was too rough. And so they called for a volunteer to be lower down the side of that cliff and Vern Bagley was lowered down and he was getting banged against the side of the cliff and he signaled for them to pull him up and they were standing around not knowing what to do, realizing that was the only way they could reach the man.
And finally he was heard to mumble under his breath something and they didn't quite get it but he went down. He says, boys, I'll go down again. And he was successful this time, although he's battered badly against the side of that cliff. He managed to get down and to tie the necessary ropes and whatnot to this man to get him hauled to safety. When he was given a medal for his heroism later, they asked him what he had said on that night under his breath. He said, as I looked at that man down there in his helplessness and hopelessness, he said, I thought to myself, if he were my own brother, Would I go down and get him? And it says it was then that I said, Yes, I guess I would.
No, I can see the faults and the failings in myself and in my brethren. But I like to see the price tag that the Apostle Paul has attached to each of us. He speaks of that man, he says, as a brother. for whom Christ died. That puts value on him. That puts value on you. That puts value on me. A brother for whom Christ died. Refresh my bowels in the Lord. Why your love for all the saints is known. That's what Paul says. But show some love for this man, this slave. Don't receive him now as a slave. But as a brother beloved, especially unto me, but how much more into thee in the Lord.
You know, that's a lovely title and it's used several times in the New Testament. A brother beloved. It's used here and it's also used in Colossians of this runaway slave. He was received by Philemon and he took a tremendous part in that assembly there at Colossae. He was a brother beloved. Ticacus is referred to as a faithful and beloved brother and Paul is referred to in the epitome of Peter. Even, says Peter, as our beloved brother Paul, according to the wisdom given unto him, hath written unto you. And the thing that marked in each of these it's called a beloved brother was their faithfulness and their love.
Why, that's what marked our Lord Jesus, isn't it? They were Christ-like men. For it says grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. Onesimus, the one who prophets, can God turn around to life? His life was unprofitable. Can a man be profitable unto God? Of course so. God can take the vilest sinner and make him a trophy of his grace. John Newton said, I'm not what I ought to be. I'm not what I want to be.
I'm not what I'm going to be, but praise God I'm not what I once was. And by the grace of God I am what I am. Bring Mark with thee. Why Paul didn't want any part of him. He and Barnabas had that big fight in Acts chapter fifteen about carrying this man. Bring Mark with thee, for he is profitable. for the ministry. Isn't it lovely that God can take our failures and even turn them around? The Bible is full of illustrations of that. One of my favorite verses is that one in Psalm twenty three. He restores my soul. Though I forget him and wander away, still he doth love me.
Wherever I stray back to my dear, is dear loving ours would I flee? When I remember That Jesus loves me. You know the kind of person that I want to be, the kind of person I'm sure you want to be, the kind of person that God wants us to be. We want to be like Timothy, a brother who pleases God. We want to be like Philemon, a brother who is marked by forgiveness. God delights in mercy. Boys, children should delight in the privilege that God gives us when we are sinned against. to extend the hand of forgiveness, to be the one who kisses, and then to be like the missimus, the one who profits.
Perhaps there's been a failure in our life, but God can give up, and he can use us for his glory. Shall we pray? Now our Father, we're thankful for thy precious word and for this meditation upon it. And we pray that it may leave its impress on us, and that we may seek to be all that is contained in that wonderful word. Brother, go to my brethren. We remember the words of the Lord Jesus. Know how they may have that. We pray that they will have their grip in our hearts and lives for his glory. And so that we may be effective witnesses to those about us.
Remember the words of the Lord Jesus by this shall all men know that ye are mightest