538 PHILEMON

Onesimus, and asking him to forgive
him; and then he sent the servant
with it to Colosse. Paul said in this
letter, “I beseech thee for my son
Onesimus, which in time past was
unprofitable, but now profitable to
thee and to me: whom I have sent
again. ‘Thou therefore receive him;
not now as a servant, but above a
servant, a brother beloved.” For
Onesimus was now a believer in
Jesus, as well as Philemon; and in
Christ there is “neither bond nor
free;” for all are one in Him;
therefore Philemon was not only to
pardon his servant, but to love him
too.

Paul remembered that Onesimus
had injured Philemon ; he had stolen
some of his property ; and perhaps
Onesimus was not now able to re-
pay him; though, no doubt, he
would try to do so, if he could; so
Paul said, “If he hath wronged
thee, or oweth thee any thing, put
that on my account; I will repay
it.’ How kind and generous Paul
was! And we may believe that
Philemon was kind and generous
too, and that he received Onesimus,
and forgave and forgot all his past
wickedness, and did not wish to be
repaid by Paul. For Philemon him-
self owed much to Paul, more than
he could ever pay ;—he had learnt
from him to seek the salvation of
his soul.

What became of Paul at last?
We are now very near the end of
his history. After two years, he
was set free; and then he visited
those places where he had formed
churches; and warned, and advised,
and comforted the Christians in
them. Paul also went to other and
more distant countries, It is thought

AND ONESIMUS.

that he travelled even as far ag oy
own country, and was the first who
preached the gospel in Britain. At
last he returned to Rome. He wag
now very old. When he wrote to
Philemon, he called himself « Pay]
the aged ;” and he had long been
looking forward to death,—to a
violent and cruel death; but he
looked forward to it with peace and
joy. He said to Timothy, “I am
now ready to be offered, and the
time of my departure is at hand,
I have fought a good fight, I have
finished my course, I have kept the
faith. Henceforth there is laid up

|for me a crown of righteousness,

which the ,Lord, the Righteous
Judge, shall give me at that day.”
2 Tim. iv. 6—8. And now the time
was come for Paul to be offered.
He had labored, and preached, and
suffered for Christ; and at last He
died for His sake. He was beheaded
at Rome, by the command of Nero,
the wicked and cruel emperor. We
are not told anything about his last
hours, and his dying words; but we
know that he must have died happily,
because he died trusting in Christ,
and for His sake; and now he has
received “a crown of glory that
fadeth not away.” 1 Pet. vy. 4. |

What happened to the other
apostles of the Lord Jesus Christ?
All suffered, and most of them were
put to death, for their Master’s sake.
Peter, after laboring and preaching
muich, particularly among the Jews,
and writing two beautiful epistles,
was crucified in his old age, as
Christ had foretold. He remember-
ed his Savior’s words, “ Follow me ;
and he did follow him faithfully,
even unto death. John xxi. 18, 19.