1072. Onesimus in Rome

Onesimus in Rome

"Paul, a prisoner of Jesus Christ, and Timothy our brother, unto Philemon our dearly beloved, and fellowlabourer" (Phm_1:1).

The fact that Paul was in prison in Rome, and the fact that the Letter addressed to Philemon was written from Rome throws a flood of light just here. Once more we can afford to use our imagination without doing violence.

1. What led Onesimus to Rome? Was he seeking Paul? Far from it. He was seeking two things.

(1) Rome was a good place in which to hide. Onesimus felt himself secure from the sleuths of law, 'mid the multitudes of the great city. There he would be hid as an atom among a mass of humanity.

The very first effect of sin is a desire to hide from God. Adam and Eve hid in the trees of the Garden. They sought to hide their nakedness with fig leaves. Achan sinned and sought to cover his tracks. He saw some silver and some gold, he coveted them, he took them, he hid them in his tent. Sin loves darkness rather than light.

(2) Rome was a good place in which to sin. In Rome Onesimus could find the food to satisfy his lustful desires. In Rome everything was wide open. The ban was removed. In Rome sin reigned in all that was base and vile.

The lights of Broadway and the glare of Coney-attract many a young life to New York city and to hell. There is a drift from the country and the village to the big city. There is a drift from the home that holds us to sobriety and to God, toward the boarding house and the theater. The wicked seek that which permits license toward licentiousness.

2. What happened in Rome? It is not hard to tell. Easy come, easy go! Soon Onesimus, made popular for the time by his bag of gold, was impoverished. His gold was gone. When Paul finally sent Onesimus back to Philemon, there was not a sou left with which the runaway slave could make good his theft. All had been lost in Rome.

Alas, how sin depletes us! We go out full, we come back empty. The prodigal son returned with no shoes on his feet. His clothes were his disgrace. How heavy are the wages of sin! The one who robbed Philemon was himself robbed. Satan robbed him of his all–his money, and his character, and almost his soul.

Autor: R.E. NEIGHBOUR