Free Bible Commentary
Philemon
Philemon 1:21-25
Tuesday, February 05, 2019“Having confidence in your obedience, I write to you, since I know that you will do even more than what I say. At the same time also prepare me a lodging, for I hope that through your prayers I will be given to you. Epaphras, my fellow prisoner in Christ Jesus, greets you, as do Mark, Aristarchus, Demas, Luke, my fellow workers. The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit.”
---End of Scripture verses---
Can your Lord, your brethren and your family have “confidence in your obedience” to the word? The best way that we can be of greatest service to our loved ones and the kingdom, and even to the world at large, is to immerse ourselves in the Bible, and then go about being diligent doers of the word. Let’s try to do “even more” good than what the people in our lives expect us to do. The more we do the more we bless and are blessed.
It is so very sad and troubling to look at the wonderful doers of the word listed in verse 24, and yet to know that Demas “loved this present world” (2 Timothy 4:10) more than the Lord toward the end of Paul’s life. This was one of the “fellow workers” that the apostle had great confidence in as well, but he let his guard down and was pulled back into the world by the magnetism of Satan’s devices.
Take Demas’ bad example as a warning. It is a wonderful thing when other people can have confidence in us, but we must be very careful to not be overconfident about ourselves. Stay humble. Study diligently. Work hard. Keep your focus. “Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth. For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is our life, is revealed, then you also will be revealed with Him in glory.” (Colossians 3:2-4).
Lord willing we will have some introductory remarks on the book of Hebrews for tomorrow.
Have a great and godly day!
- Louie Taylor
Philemon 1:17-20
Monday, February 04, 2019“If then you regard me a partner, accept him as you would me. But if he has wronged you in any way or owes you anything, charge that to my account; I, Paul, am writing this with my own hand, I will repay it (not to mention to you that you owe to me even your own self as well). Yes, brother, let me benefit from you in the Lord; refresh my heart in Christ.”
---End of Scripture verses---
Jesus said in Matthew 25:40, “Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me.” Whatever act of kindness we extend to a brother or sister in Christ, Jesus said that we actually do that for Him. When we clothe someone who is exposed, feed someone who is hungry, visit someone who is sick or in prison, Jesus takes that very personally. When we see these needs and refuse to extend the love of the Lord to them, Jesus takes that very personally as well.
Paul told Philemon that receiving Onesimus back with a heart full of forgiveness and love was, in effect, to receive the Lord’s apostle in the same way. While this is true, it even goes farther and higher than that. To forgive an erring brother and receive him back into the family of Christ when he repents is to actually receive the Lord himself. When we show compassion for a fellow debtor, we expand our heart’s capacity to love and receive “benefit” from the Savior who died to pay our debts.
Onesimus owed Philemon a trifling sum compared to the life that he owed Paul and his salvation that he owed the Lord. It is much more blessed to receive a debt of gratitude than to have a monetary debt repaid. Jesus tells us in the Parable of the Unrighteous Steward to, “make friends for yourselves by means of the wealth of unrighteousness, so that when it fails, they will receive you into the eternal dwellings” (Luke 16:9). It is spiritually shrewd to use our money to make good friends, influence people for Christ, and serve the Lord faithfully (Luke 16:8).
It is impossible to serve two masters. We cannot serve God and wealth simultaneously (Luke 16:13). Let’s make sure that we are using our material and financial blessings to serve the Lord and our fellowman.
Please read Philemon 1:21-25 for tomorrow.
Praying that your blessings abound!
- Louie Taylor
Philemon 1:10-16
Sunday, February 03, 2019“I appeal to you for my child Onesimus, whom I have begotten in my imprisonment, who formerly was useless to you, but now is useful both to you and to me. I have sent him back to you in person, that is, sending my very heart, whom I wished to keep with me, so that on your behalf he might minister to me in my imprisonment for the gospel; but without your consent I did not want to do anything, so that your goodness would not be, in effect, by compulsion but of your own free will. For perhaps he was for this reason separated from you for a while, that you would have him back forever, no longer as a slave, but more than a slave, a beloved brother, especially to me, but how much more to you, both in the flesh and in the Lord.”
---End of Scripture verses---
The Apostle Paul vouched for the integrity of his new brother in Christ, Onesimus. Sometimes we just need a person of good standing to put in a good word for us to help give us a leg up in life. Paul certainly understood this truth from the early days in his service to the Lord. When he first tried to associate with the Christians in the city of Jerusalem after his conversion, they were afraid to have anything to do with him because of his past reputation. But Barnabas took him to the Apostles and gave him a good referral and afterward he was able to move “about freely in Jerusalem, speaking out boldly in the name of the Lord” (Acts 9:26-28). He was once “useless” like Onesimus had been, but the Lord Jesus made him “useful” or “profitable,” which is what the name “Onesimus” means.
Our “goodness” should be offered, not “by compulsion, but of” our “own free will” (verse 14). If we do good deeds for people and make sacrifices for God merely because we feel like we are forced to, that means our hearts are not in the right place. If we attend worship services because we feel like we “have to” and not because we “want to,” our attitude will be poor, our focus will be off and our offering will be tainted. God wants us to choose to serve Him willingly, lovingly and cheerfully.
The right thing to do was for Philemon to not merely receive Onesimus back as his servant, but to embrace him as “a beloved brother” (verse 16). When people obey the Gospel of Jesus Christ, it should always change their relationships for the better. I love the way my brother-in-law Randy Scott refers to me as his “double brother”. Christ takes relationships that are poor and makes them good. He takes relationships that are good and makes them even better. In Christ Jesus all of our petty differences are rendered insignificant and our barriers are torn down, and we (should) understand that we have the one thing that matters most in common with our brethren: the salvation of our God-imprinted, immortal spirits.
Please read Philemon 1:17-20 for tomorrow.
I would like to invite you to worship God with us this Lord’s Day at the Taylorsville Road church of Christ.
We are located at 3741 Taylorsville Road in Louisville Kentucky.
9:30 AM Bible classes for all ages. 10:30 AM and 5:00 PM worship services.
Have a blessed Lord’s Day!
- Louie Taylor
Philemon 1:8-9
Saturday, February 02, 2019“Therefore, though I have enough confidence in Christ to order you to do what is proper, yet for love’s sake I rather appeal to you—since I am such a person as Paul, the aged, and now also a prisoner of Christ Jesus.”
---End of Scripture verses---
As a hand-picked ambassador of Jesus Christ, Paul had the apostolic authority to command Philemon to accept Onesimus back as a brother in Christ and without any repercussions for fleeing from his proper place. Instead Paul lovingly and compassionately appealed to him to have a forgiving heart as that which the Lord Jesus Christ possessed, and to do the “proper” thing by embracing his runaway slave when he returned, and pardoning him for his infractions, and receiving him as a fellow-member in the family of God. Paul appealed to Philemon to do the right thing as an “aged” and experienced brother and as a “prisoner of Christ Jesus” who had endured much wrong at the hands of others, and did so without the demand or desire for justice or retribution.
Friends, even though God has the right as the Creator and Supreme Ruler of the universe to demand that we do everything that He wills us to do, we should comply with His every command simply because they are the right things to do. We should embrace the Lord’s will for us because we love Him so much for all the wonderful things that He has done for us and given to us in our lives, and for the great and precious eternal blessings that He has promised to us if we are faithful. The astonishing fact that God came to this earth in the form of human flesh in the person of Christ Jesus, for no other reason than to save us because of his immeasurable love for us, should humble us to the greatest degree and provide the only motivation we need to live our lives to please Him in all respects.
Please read Philemon 1:10-16 for tomorrow.
Have a wonderful day!
- Louie Taylor
Philemon 1:1-7
Friday, February 01, 2019“Paul, a prisoner of Christ Jesus, and Timothy our brother, To Philemon our beloved brother and fellow worker, and to Apphia our sister, and to Archippus our fellow soldier, and to the church in your house: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. I thank my God always, making mention of you in my prayers, because I hear of your love and of the faith which you have toward the Lord Jesus and toward all the saints; and I pray that the fellowship of your faith may become effective through the knowledge of every good thing which is in you for Christ’s sake. For I have come to have much joy and comfort in your love, because the hearts of the saints have been refreshed through you, brother.”
---End of Scripture verses---
One of the most refreshing things that a prisoner can hear is good news from the outside world. Paul had good reason to thank God because of the good reports he received about the active love and faith of many of his fellow kingdom servants. Philemon and his good family were people who could be counted upon to uplift the hearts of the saints and provide spiritual refreshment for the Lord’s people. They were willing to open up their home as a gathering place for the church, and they were known for their eagerness to share (fellowship) their blessings with others who had need of them.
Paul’s personal experience of Philemon’s benevolence, and the news from Epaphras that Philemon’s love and faithfulness flourished toward the Lord and His people, really brought Paul “much joy and comfort” during a tough time in his life. It may seem like Paul was just buttering his brother up before the request he made on behalf of his beloved Onesimus, but he was actually explaining to Philemon the reason why he had confidence to make such a bold entreaty of him and not an authoritative demand (verses 8-9).
Are we the sort of disciples that the Lord and His people can have great confidence in to be generous in times of need and faithful in all circumstances? Are the expressions of our love and faith for the Lord like a breath of fresh air to the saints who are struggling to keep their heads above water? I want to follow in the footsteps of Philemon and be the source of much thanksgiving and joy and comfort and refreshment and love to other people!
Please read Philemon 1:8-9 for tomorrow.
Have a great day!
- Louie Taylor
Introduction to Philemon
Thursday, January 31, 2019Philemon was likely a wealthy and influential member of the church in the city of Colosse in modern day Turkey (Philemon 1:2, 22; Colossians 4:9). It is commonly believed that Apphia was his wife and Archippus was his son (verse 2), and also the preacher or “minister” of the church that met in their house (Colossians 4:17). Paul was likely the one who converted Philemon to Christ (verse 19), and obviously considered him to be an upstanding man of honesty and reliability based upon the praise he gave him in this epistle.
Paul wrote this letter to his brother Philemon to address the situation with his runaway slave, Onesimus (verse 16). Onesimus had fled his master’s home in Colosse to the city of Rome, and likely after lifting some of Philemon’s valuables (verse 18). While in Rome Onesimus met up with Paul who had been imprisoned there, and the apostle converted him to Christ and the two quickly formed a bond of love and loyalty with one another (verse 12). Paul desired to keep his new brother in Christ by his side because he found him to be very “useful” in his service to the Lord (verses 11, 13), but he knew that it was right for Onesimus to return to his appropriate place and position in the household of Philemon (verse 14).
This is one of those Bible passages that brings the very touchy issue of slavery into focus. The Bible deals with slavery in a very matter-of-fact way because it was so prevalent in the times and places in which the inspired books were written. Here is what Adam Clarke wrote concerning Paul’s letter to Philemon: “This epistle is the Biblical answer to the question of slavery. Here we have no law of outward compulsion to forbid slavery but a gospel spirit of love which so changes the heart that slavery automatically withers and becomes impossible.” When we read Paul’s sentiments written in verses 15-16 we can understand this assessment to be true.
Please read Philemon 1:1-7 for tomorrow.
Have a great day!
- Louie Taylor