The Ephesians Story (Part 1) – Paul, the Early Church & Eternal Reality

Man, what a hint. But more than a slave, a beloved brother. Here he comes. Philemon, my son, out of my imprisonment, I’m giving him back to you, but not as a slave. Do you get the point that’s building up here? This whole letter is nothing but one outrageous hint. Especially since he is more than a slave and he is a brother, but how much more to you, both in the flesh and now in the Lord, how much more he is to you. If then, you regard me as a partner, accept him as you would accept me. Treat him like he was Paul. The slave: treated him like he was Paul. But if he has stolen anything from you or wronged you or owes you anything, send me the bill. I implore you now. Send me the bill. I’ll pay for it. Oh, I want you to know that I’ve just taken the pen out of the hand of the guy I’m dictating this to. I’m writing it with my own hand. I’m writing it. You’ll recognize my scribble. If Onesimus owes you anything, send me the bill. And I’ll pay for it, but I will not mention, I’m not going to mention what I’m about to mention, that you owe me your very soul.

I wrote a letter like this to the brothers in Beaumont, and they didn’t have the sense to catch on. I did; it was a Philemon letter; I even told them it was. Yes, brother Philemon. Let me benefit from you in the Lord. Refresh my heart. Make me happy here, will you? Having confidence in you and in your obedience…remember, I would not order you, I’d only ask you…But I have confidence in you. In your obedience, I write to you since I know that you will do even more than what I haven’t asked. You’re going to do more than anything I’ve mentioned in this letter. Oh, this is outrageous. And at the same time, also prepare me a room, for I have hope that I will be given to you soon.

Now, can you imagine Philemon going into one of his guest rooms and fixing that room to receive Paul while he’s thinking about this letter and knowing that Paul is going to be in his home, in a few weeks, maybe? Anyway, Epaphras, my fellow prisoner in Jesus Christ, greets you as do these other people – that’s the letter that Tychicus took with him along with 1st Colossians and 2nd Colossians and Philippi, along with this prisoner in hand, and he says hello, I’m on my way back to the area where I was born, and where I got saved there in Ephesus. I’ve got three letters here. One of them is for a fellow named Philemon. He’s some rich guy in Colossae. I got this slave here with me, but most of all, I got bad news. There’s a good chance that Epaphras is dead by now. And the church is shocked. He was running a terrible fever. The doctor, Luke, looked at him and said, “There’s very little hope.” And they’re so upset, so concerned. They just fell in love with this brother. And Tychicus stays there, as the brothers do when they travel, ministers to them for a while. The church in Philippi is refreshed. Lydia says to Tychicus, “Is there any hope he’s alive?” Oh, yeah. There’s always that possibility. Tychicus takes his slave and heads out for Colossae.

And Lydia probably asked some brother or sister in the church in Philippi to go to Rome and find out if Epaphras is alive or dead. And when someone goes to Rome, you can bet your life, read the Philippian letter, that she sent a gift to Paul. That’s what the church in Philippi did. And Paul receives the messenger, and he grabs a pen. It’s the last letter he ever writes to a church. And he says, “Greetings to you.” He writes his letter. He learns from this person, this messenger, that there are a couple of sisters in the church in Philippi who are having fights with one another, and this is the last thing you’ll read in the letter. But keep the whole letter in mind when you read that, because a lot of what he says is addressed to those two sisters. If you’re going to read a letter of Paul, always read the last few lines. You’ll learn a lot.

Anyway, he says, “I’m so sorry you heard Epaphras may be dead. I’m not only here to report to you that he’s in great shape; I’m sending him to you to work among you and to work there in Macedonia. And Epaphras, now recovered from a heavy fever and a dreadful disease, then leaves Rome with a letter. It’s going to Philippi and it’s going to the church. It’s the Philippian church, and he sends Epaphras. I really wish I knew what happened to Epaphras. I’ve always believed that he was Paul’s greatest student. Paul has some of the most lavish words he ever wrote for Epaphras, even more than for Timothy.

Okay, let’s tell you a little bit about the end of that story. Let’s go now with Tychicus and Philemon. You know about Tychicus and Onesimus. You know what happens when Tychicus gets there and gives the letter to Philemon. We’ve got to believe that Philemon is not so numb in his skull, but that he does what he frees, makes him a brother, and she’ll do more than I ask and prepare me a room. Paul never got to sleep in that room. Tychicus comes to a town he’s probably never been in, but to a culture familiar to him with two letters, and it’s those two letters that I believe give us more clear insight into what Paul of Tarsus said to a new church than anything else.

And brother Ron, I hope you won’t forget what you’ve heard here today, because this is not just a story. I’m going to tell you what else it is. It’s a totally different mind than what we had, a totally different flavor. And this is what really happened. And this is the way things were. And this is how things took place among the churches. And this is the way they live. This is church life. This is churches and workers. This is not all I want to tell you, because I really want you to meet the Colossian Christians. I want you to know how they felt when they opened that letter, who they were, and what they looked like, but I also don’t want you to walk out on me today. So, I’m going to stop here. Just do this with me.

We have a meeting and we’re Colossians. We’re Colossian people. And thank God, we’ve got a decent place to meet; it’s in Philemon’s home. Just every time I think about that, I give a sigh of relief because I know what most of those people live in. And I don’t have to imagine this awful, awful, dreadful, dark, filthy place for the church to meet in. Thank God for Philemon. I don’t know how you felt about him, but I’m very grateful for this brother, frankly. But I want you to see what’s in that room. It’s mostly slaves. And who’s not slaves are poor. And there may be a Jew or two sitting around. There may be one or two Greek merchants, Philemon, and one or two of his better-to-do friends. Thank the Lord. Most of the people in that room don’t belong in that room. They are poorer than we could ever imagine.

And when I come back, I’m going to tell that story again, and then we’re going to get into Colossians 2, book two, 2nd book of Colossians. Tychicus tells them all about what happened to Paul after he left Ephesus, about the riot in Jerusalem, about the trial in Caesarea Philippi, about this gosh-awful trip he made across the Mediterranean during the Etesian winds, about his being met at three taverns, and about his imprisonment, about the soldier that keeps him in prison there, tells him about how the church in Rome is doing. Tells about how Epaphras got sick and how he came without Epaphras, and he really regrets that. But hopefully, if Epaphras lives, he lives.

Well, that takes all evening, and half the people got up and walked out on Tychicus while he was giving the report. So, they called another meeting. I didn’t know this till last night. This is new news to me, and they meet and he reads the letter to them, and it begins this way, and this is where we will end.

Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, to the holy ones who are at Colossae and who are faithful in Christ Jesus. We’re going to go through this thing until you’ll think there’s not another book in the whole Bible, until we drown in it and joy in it and praise in it and thank God in it. And always remember that if you fall in love with Him enough, I might ask you to move somewhere. And brothers and sisters, that’s all there is to that story, except to get to know the brothers and sisters in Colossae a little better.

As believers, if this is all the consciousness we have, we end up being Calvin and Arminius, and we end up being theologians, and we end up fighting over the things that we can see and understand, which really kind of makes us blind. If we are going to be believers the way we ought to be believers, we have to break the chain. Even if we only break it by faith, we’ve got to break that chain. Okay, that’s number one. I’m going to be number two. Now, are you okay so far? Okay.