Not as a Servant
Paul sat chained in the dirty Roman prison, but his thoughts were on things above. They had him where they wanted him on the earth realm, but they could not bind his spirit. His was the spirit of an eagle, and it soared in the heavenlies of divine revelation. Circumstances might be a nuisance as far as earthly creature comforts were concerned, but he would not let his circumstances affect his relationship with Jesus Christ. Stripped he was of earthly wealth and possessions, but he was richer by far than any of his captors. While in the prison he wrote: "Unto me who am less than the least of all saints is this grace given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the UNSEARCHABLE RICHES of Christ!" It was while in prison, when the devil thought he had the voice of this great apostle stilled, that he wrote words under the inspiration of the Holy Ghost that would live forever and bless millions.
Oh, sons of God, hear me today! You need not be in bondage to your circumstances. No matter what earthly force seemingly has you bound, be it your health, finances, unsaved husband or wife, a dead church, geographical isolation from other saints, or any other thing. these things cannot bind your spirit unless you submit to it. You can rise above any situation! Look at John on the Isle of Patmos. Banished from society, exiled on a lonely island, left to die, seemingly no further ministry. He might be tempted to feel that all his opportunities were behind him, that there was nothing at all he could do as far as the work of the kingdom was concerned. No churches to go to, no people to preach to, no sick to heal. Nothing. Have you ever been there, preacher? Well, remember that the high point of John's earthly experience in God came AFTER he got into such circumstances as these. Babylon could put him on an island, separate him from the people, but Babylon could not chain his spirit. Here he soared to heights hitherto unattained. Cheer up, saints of God, no prison can hold that one who cares only for fellowship with Jesus, whose heart is not tied to things of this earth.
Enter Onesimus
One day, in the prison cell, Paul had a visitor. Whether he was arrested on some minor charge and put in jail for a short while, or whether he came to see Paul by some other means, we do not know. It is likely that he was put in jail for awhile. He was a runaway slave, and quite possibly a thief. He had fled from his Christian master in Asia Minor, and found his way to Rome. Here he met Paul, whom he had no doubt met before, as Paul had been a guest in the home of Philemon, and had preached the Gospel there. In fact, Philemon was one of his converts, and owed his very life to Paul.
I want you to take a good look at this slave boy, wild, daring, and rebellious. I don't know what he expected when he came fact to face with this mighty man of God in that prison cell. But I'm sure he didn't expect what he got. His life was about to be changed., the course of his future was to be turned completely around. What a picture! A runaway sinner boy, fleeing from a Christian home, now finds himself locked up in a jail cell with the greatest soul winner of that day. There in that cell, where his congregation of one can't get away from him, Paul begins to deal with the powers of darkness that were driving that young man across the face of the world.
Here in the book of Philemon, Paul's letter to a brother in Christ, we find the story of the conversion of Onesimus, and his return home to Colosse. His name means "profitable," and the important thing to notice that this young man who once failed to live up to his name and became very unprofitable, now is changed and becomes profitable to both Paul and Philemon.
Here are the Sons
Oh, beloved, I want you to see yourself in this picture. Read the book of Philemon, just one chapter, but power-packed with truth and revelation. Not just the life story of a young servant, but the life story of the sons of God, and our changed lives from meeting our great Apostle, Jesus. Notice in verse 10 that Paul says he had begotten Onesimus in his bonds. If Paul had not been in that jail cell in Rome, he might never have run across this man in that vast city. And Jesus had to strip himself, be bound to an earthly existence, in order to come to us where we were and redeem us. In 2 Cor. 8:9 we read: "For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that ye through his poverty might be rich." Glory to God, what a declaration! But the Holy Ghost inspired the writing of it, and it has to be so. It means that Jesus gave up what He was in his pre-existent glory, to become what we were, that he might make us what he was. He who knew no sin, was made sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. Philippians chapter 2 says that Jesus emptied Himself, took upon Him the form of a servant, was found in fashion as a man, humbled himself, and became obedient to the death of the cross. Yes, He came a long ways, that He might find us and send us back where we belong, back to Father's house. Praise His wonderful Name!
Verse 11 in Philemon says that in times past Onesimus was unprofitable. Is this true of the sons? Oh yes, dear ones. Of all the things that God created, only Man has rebelled and failed to do His bidding. Unprofitable? After breathing His own life into a hunk of dust, God found no fellowship with sinful man, and had to buy him back from the clutches of sin. "Ye are bought with a price." And the price He paid was far more than we were worth. But He paid it. He saw something in us that He knew was going to eventually be profitable to Him. "Which in time past was to thee unprofitable, but now profitable to thee and to me."
The Glory Ahead
What is it that God is going to do with us that will cause us to be profitable to Him? He tells us in Romans 8:17-18, "And if we are His children, then we are His heirs also: heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ--sharing His inheritance with Him; only we must share His suffering if we are to share His glory. But what of that? "For I consider that the sufferings of this present time, this present life, are not worth being compared with the GLORY that is about to be revealed to us and in us and for us, and conferred on us!" (Ampl. N.T.) Hallelujah! What a destiny! He is bringing forth a company of sons described in Rom. 8:29 (Ampl.) as being those whom "He also destined from the beginning to be molded into the image of His Son and share inwardly His likeness." He "so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son." He gave one Son, the unspeakable gift, and He is getting back "many sons," for the One Son that He gave to the earth is "bringing many sons into glory." Praise His Name! This is profitable. Many sons for the One. All in the image of the first born of these many brethren. So that which was once unprofitable is now profitable. All because of Jesus, the one who was willing to be bound to earth's prison for awhile, that He might bring us to Father's house. Glory to God! Let me stop and shout! What love! What grace! What a Redeemer!
The Road Home
Paul says the he would like to have retained Onesimus there in Rome, that there was work for him to do there. But first he had to send him back to Colosse to have a reunion with Philemon. From verses 13 and 14 we get a picture of Onesimus returning to Philemon with this precious letter, this word from Paul, then with a burning heart and persuasive voice, he begs Philemon to let him return to the scene of action where Paul is. Of course, Philemon is more than willing, for as Onesimus returns to Paul, it is as tho Philemon himself is going to work with Paul.
Yes, there is a catching up into glory for the sons, a going beyond the Veil. This brings a reunion with the Father such as mankind has never known. Adam never knew this glory to which we return. For when Onesimus was in the house of Philemon before he fled, he had been there as a servant. That was his relationship to Philemon. But when he returns (verse 16), he returns "not now as a servant, a brother beloved." Not only is he returning home, but his status has changed, and this because of Paul's ministry to him.
Mankind left the presence and fellowship of God from the Adamic realm. Adam was as high as man had ever risen. But through our Lord Jesus we return back to God in the Christ realm. Members of the Body of Christ. Adam never knew this place in God. 1 Cor. 15 is very clear on this. "The first man Adam became a living being, an individual personality; the last Adam, Christ, became a life-giving Spirit." (Ampl.). "The first man was from out of earth, made of dust, earth-minded; and as is the Man from heaven, so also are those who are of heaven, heaven-minded. And just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, so shall we and so let us also bear the image of the Man of heaven."
So back to the Father we must go. But not any longer as servants. But now as sons of God, and brethren of that One who was the first-born of many. A different life, a new nature, a greater authority. No longer bearing the life and image of Adam, but now living the life of Christ. No more of the lower nature of sinful man, but partakers of the divine nature. The time ended when we are lower than angels and subject to the attacks of principalities and powers, but now sitting on the very throne of God, ruling with Jesus Christ. No longer working for rewards, but receiving the inheritance of the Son.
From Servant to Son
Our status with God has been undergoing a change. We are moving "from the guttermost to the uttermost." From the lowest hell to the highest heaven. From sinful humanity to sons of the Most High. Let me take you through some of the steps of this change.
Romans 5:10 says that "When we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of His Son." Enemies. This is a poor relationship to have with Almighty God. But this is what we were when we were in sin. Jesus said: "he that is not with me is against me." There is no neutral ground. Sinners would like to feel that while they do not serve God and have no part with Him, that they certainly are not enemies of God. But this is what the Bible says we were.
But God tells us to love our enemies. And while we were yet sinners, His enemies, God loved us so much that He gave His Son to reconcile us unto Himself. People are sometimes puzzled as to why it takes the death of one man to obtain forgiveness and eternal life for another. It is the law of reproduction. It takes the death of the seed in order to reproduce itself in a harvest. Jesus was that Seed of Life. He had not fallen to sin as Adam had, so death had no part in Him. As long as that perfect Man walked around on earth, he would not die. Not by disease, nor by old age, accident, or murder. The angels had charge over Him to keep Him from any accident. He said: "No man taketh my life from me." The death process was not working in Him. He was a life-giver )1 Cor. 15:45), and a demonstration of the life of Sonship. But He was the only one who had attained to that place. Those of us walking in the Adamic life, flesh and blood, could never come to this state alone. So the seed was planted. Jesus said in John 12:24: "Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit>' Verse 33 lets us know that this discourse is dealing with His coming death.
What happened when Jesus died, when the Seed was planted? That divine life of the Son of God was planted in the earth of humanity, so that all those who receive Him are given the power, or privilege, of becoming sons of God. Even to those whose faith takes them into His nature.
Obedient Servants
When we were enemies of God, we were servants of sin. Rom. 6:20 says: "Ye were the servants of sin." We yielded our members to obey sin, and became servants of sin. But thanks be to God, Jesus redeemed us, and we became servants of God. "But now being made free from sin, and become servants to God" (Rom. 6:22). Well, glory! This is far better than being a servant of sin, and an enemy of God. In fact, it is a wonderful privilege to be able to serve God, just to obey His voice and do that which pleases Him.
As soon as I was converted, I found a desire and hunger to do something for Jesus. They used to talk about how Jesus might come before the service was over, and in my heart I would be saying: "Oh, Lord, not tonight, wait until I have a chance to do something in the Kingdom. I've never preached the Gospel, or been to the mission field, or led many souls to Christ. in fact, I just have not done anything worthwhile for you. So please wait until I can lay up some rewards for heaven." That's what a servant usually thinks of, the rewards he is going to get for his labor. I don't know what the Lord must have thought of us. The evangelist trying to scare folks into the altar with the threat of a rapture, and me all the time praying against it.
But I did love to work for God. Pass out songbooks. I became the official songbook distributor. I saw to it that no one had an excuse for not singing. Then I was promoted to janitor, get to church early and build the fire in the coal stove. Carry out the ashes, dust the benches, stay till the last one was gone so I could lock the door. Doesn't sound like much, but it was my job, and I tried to be faithful to it. No pay involved, except the privilege of being a servant of God. Praise God. Then it was passing out literature and inviting people to Sunday School, street services on the public square in our city, holding services in the jail, the T.B. sanitarium, CCC camp, brush arbors, country school houses, and anywhere else I could get an audience. Let me tell you, dear ones, that being a servant of God is a thrilling experience. But it is not God's best. He has something even better for us.
In Luke 17:10, Jesus is giving a parable of a servant doing what he is commanded to do. "So likewise ye, when ye shall have done all those things which are commanded you, say, We are unprofitable servants: we have done that which was our duty to do." The mark of a servant is obedient faithful service. Working FOR God. He does not have to know why he is doing it, only that he has been commanded to do so.
Friendship with Jesus
Those servants of God who are faithful and obedient are eligible for a promotion. Servant to Friend. In John 15:15 we hear Jesus saying: "Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth; but I have called you FRIENDS; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you. Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you." While the mark of a servant is obedience, sometimes blind obedience, the mark of a friend is revelation. They do not work FOR God, they work WITH God. The light of divine illumination has broken upon their hearts, and they have come into knowledge of the plans and purposes of the Master Builder. While the laborer, the hold carrier, the ditch digger, simply do what the foreman tells them to do, the Architect and his friends can look at the blueprints and the drawings and see the plans for the finished product, and know what it will be like when it is completed.
In these last days we find an hour of great revelation breaking upon us, when you do not have to be an Apostle Paul or a John on Patmos to know what God is bringing forth. It is a sad fact, tho, that even in this day of light there are so many who have either become so satisfied with a servant's role, or become blinded by Babylon's bondage, that they cannot see that there is a greater place in God waiting to be entered into. Lives of ordinary people like you and I are being transformed and changed into His image, from glory to glory, as we behold His face. Glory to God, what a thrilling time to live in. Friendship with Jesus, fellowship divine.
Another Step to Take
Friendship is not God's highest or best. Rom. 8:29 says: "For whom He did foreknow, He also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren." And in Heb. 2:11: "For both He that sanctifieth and they who are sanctified are all of one; for which cause He is not ashamed to call them brethren, saying, I will declare thy name unto my brethren (Psa. 22:22), in the midst of the church will I sing praise unto thee." Here is the revealing of God's plan for those who overcome. A body of Sons, a harvest from the divine Seed of life, the 100 fold, the Manchild, the Overcomer who sits with Him on His throne, the many membered Christ, the Melchisedec order of Kings and Priests who rule on this earth. Praise His Name!
Someone may say: "But Brother Bill, I've heard you say these things before." Yes, and you're going to keep on hearing me say them as long as you read our literature, hear the tapes, or the radio, or get close to where I'm preaching. Some people tell me that they will not read anything but the Bible. No use to come and hear me preach, then, because I'm going to be preaching on the same truths that I'm writing. What they really mean is that they are so super-spiritual that they don't need the rest of the Body, and have no use for anyone else's revelation but their own. Well, I have news for you. I still need the other members of the Body of Christ. And there are many people who consider themselves very ordinary members who have no idea how much they have influenced my life and ministry as I drank at their fountain. Much literature comes to me in the mail, every day, more than I could possibly read. But I search each paper and message for that anointing, that word of life. And that which has a word from God does a work in me. Most of the papers and magazines are just junk. Plea letters, "preachers" who have learned how to "milk" a mailing list, wanting me to send them an offering or pledge to this or that. Or many times it is someone with a mimeograph machine or printing press who is hung up on a tangent of some kind or other, or perhaps some sincere person who has a desire to run, but has no message. I have to wade through all this to get to that few who have been touched by the Spirit of God and called to write the revelation that is breaking over the land in this hour.
In the Fulness of Time
There is a beautiful picture of the Sonship message in Galatians chapter four. Verse 1 tells us that the heir (and remember that YOU are an heir of God) is "lord of all." That means he is master and ruler of everything God has. But this lordship and rulership comes when he is fully matured. Until maturity, as long as he is a child, he is treated as a servant and is under tutors and governors. His life is governed by someone else. Any parent knows better than to let a small child govern his own life. We love the child too much for that. But when that child reaches full maturity, he comes into his inheritance. Verse to tells us that there is a "time appointed of the father."
Verse three says that we are in bondage under the elements of the world as long as we are children in our minority. But Jesus came to redeem us and bring us to full sonship. And praise God for verse 7: "Wherefore thou art no more a servant, but a son; and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ." It is not God's desire that we just be servants and receive rewards for our labors here on earth. He wants us to have His own life and nature in us to the extent that we bear His image, do His will because we have His mind, and receive the inheritance.
Verse 5 says that the purpose of the redemption of Christ was that we might receive the "adoption of sons." This word adoption used here does not have the meaning that we usually apply to it in adopting someone else's child. It is the Greek word: "huiothesia," meaning the "placing as a son." It means for a man to take his own child who has grown from babyhood, through childhood, to a mature manhood, and officially setting him in as a partner with the father in his business and possessions. "Joint heirs with Christ."
Jesus tells us in Rev. 21:7 that "He that overcometh shall INHERIT all things, and I will be his God, and he shall be MY SON." This is the mark of sonship, to inherit all things. It was necessary that Jesus die, in order to make this will and this inheritance effective for us. (Heb. 9:16).
We see the beautiful picture of the inheritance of the Son in the relationship of Abraham and Isaac in Genesis 25:5-6. To his sons by the concubine, Abraham gave gifts and put them in a different place or location than Isaac. But unto Isaac, the Son of promise, "Abraham gave all that he had." Oh, beloved, hear me now. there will be gifts, blessings, and heaven for the "whosoever will" of God. But the inheritance of all that He has and is will be reserved for that Son of promise, the Overcomer, the Manchild who bears His image and receives His fulness. And he will dwell in a different place (in the Spirit) than those on a lower realm. Ezekiel chapter 44 is very plain that some are allowed to minister to the house, but are never allowed in the Holy of Holies where the Sons of Zadok enter. Don't you want to be God's best? Then press your way in to full Sonship. Paul says in Phil. 3:14: "I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus."
"But Above a Servant"
So Paul sent Onesimus back home to Philemon. Not as a servant. As a brother beloved. But not to stay. I am convinced that Philemon sent him back to Paul, but now on a different plane than when he first went to Rome. Are you hearing what the Spirit is saying in this inspired letter? Jesus redeemed us to bring us back to God, not just back to the Adamic plane in the Garden before sin entered. Above that. All the way up to the Christ realm, to the image of the Son, partakers of the divine nature. Beyond the veil, where Jesus Christ has already entered as a forerunner for us. But not to remain in the invisible realm of glory. But to have that glory bestowed upon us, and then return to where the needs are. For Onesimus this meant a physical geographical journey from Rome to Colosse and then back to Rome. But what I'm talking about is beyond geographical realms. It is a journey to a place that cannot be measured in miles, or time to make the trip. Many people are wanting to get away from this world where the problems are. But God is wanting a people who will come into His glory, and bring that glory into this world of problems until every need is met and every enemy is conquered. Including that last enemy, death.
These are His sons. While the mark of the servant who works FOR God is his obedience; and the mark of the friend who works WITH God is his revelation of God's mysteries; the mark of the son who works AS God is his inheritance. "The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God' And if children, then HEIRS; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ." (Rom. 8:16-17). Furthermore, here is a secret. everything the servant has, the friend has also, and more. For to qualify for the higher realm, the friend must first have the qualifications of the servant realm (John 15:14). And all that the servant and friend have attained to, are incorporated by God's nature into the son. So you lose nothing by going on to a higher plane.
From Behind the Veil
But what about that return to the battlefield, to the place of ministry? Many talk about entering into a Melchisedec ministry, but they don't want to be where any ministry is needed. They want to stay in heaven where there is no sin, temptation, sickness, or any other need. There is a great work yet to be done on this earth, a great victory to be won. And we are to be a part of that work and that victory! Glory to Jesus! Doesn't that make you happy?
When Onesimus returns to Rome to work with Paul, he does not return as a servant, on orders. He comes this time as a brother beloved. On a legal basis equal with Paul, freed from being a slave in the household. He has been formally and legally cleared of the charges laid against him because of his crime. And when we go behind that veil, with the blood of Jesus to put on the mercy-seat, there is a death to the Adam life. A new life emerges from behind that veil, until there is a manifestation in fulness of His life in His sons. All creation groans for this to happen, saint and sinner wait for this day of the manifestation of the sons of God. Everything works toward that day. "For we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to His purpose." In the Feast of Passover, the blood is sprinkled on each individual doorpost, and sin is covered by the blood. "We are accepted in the beloved." The Judge does not look at our sinful natures and our sins, but He sees the Blood, and the penalty of sin is lifted. In the Feast of Tabernacles when the High Priest goes behind the veil, all sin is removed from Israel. Sin is not covered, it is removed. A new nature, in the image of the Son.
Shake the Nations
Can you imagine the effect on this world for a company of Sons to come forth bearing the fulness of Jesus Christ? While He limited His ministry to a small insignificant nation in the mid-east, He will not work in His entire Body to cover the world and topple Satan's kingdom. Here the Rock cut out of the mountain strikes the image of Babylon and destroys it. The purpose of His first coming was not to preach the Gospel in every nation or to heal every sick person in Israel. Had this been His purpose, then He failed. But what He came to do was to produce the life of the Son on a human level, then plant it in the human race to bring forth a harvest of Sons in His own image.
Up to now we have prophesied according to the proportion of faith we had. We fought satanic powers with the measure of the Spirit we were able to obtain. Some opened their vessels for a greater flow of the Spirit, and had a greater ministry than others. But the best have fallen far short of the goal. Those who have the greatest ministries and have reached the highest heights in God are the first to realize their lack and their weakness in the light of the Son of God. It is the really small man who has nothing, that thinks he has arrived and has all there is to attain to in God. God help us to press on in Him.
Ungodly men, with their police tactics and their political powers, have fought the Gospel and tried to stamp out the name of Christ in the earth. What a shock for them when God unleashes on this earth all His sons, His heroes of faith, from Abel to now. No iron curtain will hold them out. Now they turn the missionaries away, simply by refusing them a visa. Bibles have to be smuggled into the iron curtain countries sometimes at the risk of many lives. Children are growing up without ever hearing about Jesus. The only church that most know anything about is the false picture of Babylon. While the vast majority of the world worships at the shrine of atheism, heathenism, and devil worship. Even so-called Christian America openly and brazenly worshi0ps sex and materialism, with religion only a once a week digression.
Picture the panic of this sinful world when Jesus returns to destroy the systems of this world and it's whole Babylonish structure. This time not just in one body, as in Palestine, but now in thousands of sons spread all across this globe. The world systems will have no peace, there will be no let-up in this war, no compromising truce with the devil. The merchandising forces of the earth who had traffic with Babylon, will weep and howl as they see that wicked system go up in smoke. It is during the time of great panic and crisis that the sons go forth in power. In fact, it is the word of the Lord that brings about the crisis.
Don't expect peace on earth under the present systems. The word of the Lord is against them. They will never bring about the Utopia or "Great Society" that mankind hopes for. This only comes as Jesus, working in His Body, takes control of the affairs of the nations. This is why we come back from behind that Veil. It is at this time that the trumpet of Jubile begins to sound, releasing men from all prisons, all bondages. Praise God! Sons will walk the streets of Moscow, Havana, Peking, Warsaw, Calcutta, and no one will know3 how they got there. Jails will not hold them, political forces will not prevent them. No devil will stand before them, unbelief and ignorance shall vanish at their word. Divine order and the beauty of holiness shall replace the ugliness of Babylon and it's confusion. The harvest of the earth shall be reaped. (Rev. 14:15-16).
Yet More to Come
Can you believe for this? Whether you do or not, it's coming. It is not for some other century, some future generation. It is now. We are facing the hour. Yet I haven't told you the half of it. Paul writes in verse 21 of Philemon that: "Thou wilt also do more than I say." There is more going to take place than what has even been revealed. He will "Do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us."
Today He is the Life that works in us. Today we are imparting that life to others also. While some speak and impart death, defeat, and confusion, we impart life and revelation and peace. "Such as I have give I thee." The message of Sonship is not some futuristic hope, it is a now message, a word of life for today. It is working a transforming change in us. You are different for having heard it, better for having believed it, and changed more into His image for having spoken of it to others. Don't put me off till tomorrow. I must have His life today. I know that greater things are ahead of us than the human race has ever seen. But I can't wait till then to start knowing Him in a fuller way, and enjoying His life in me. I can't wait until I know and understand all the mysteries of God. I must tell you what I know now, be it ever so little. I don't have all the answers yet, cannot give you the ultimate truth on all major and minor doctrines. My part, in fact, may be very small. But it is the part He has given me to share with you. And I must share it today. Tomorrow will take care of itself. Yes, there is a tomorrow. A bright tomorrow for those who enter His glory, but a horror for the satanic hordes who face their defeat and ruin. But the mysteries of God for tomorrow will be revealed to and understood by those who are faithful to receive that which is being revealed now for today. Take courage, saints of God, for our God is on the Throne! He rules all forces. Nothing can stay His hand. Bless His wonderful Name!
Bill Britton Not as a Servant 