Digibron cookies

Voor optimale prestaties van de website gebruiken wij cookies. Overeenstemmig met de EU GDPR kunt u kiezen welke cookies u wilt toestaan.

Noodzakelijke en wettelijk toegestane cookies

Noodzakelijke en wettelijk toegestane cookies zijn verplicht om de basisfunctionaliteit van Digibron te kunnen gebruiken.

Optionele cookies

Onderstaande cookies zijn optioneel, maar verbeteren uw ervaring van Digibron.

Bekijk het origineel

Paul’s Epistle to Philemon (1)

Bekijk het origineel

+ Meer informatie

Paul’s Epistle to Philemon (1)

10 minuten leestijd Arcering uitzetten

Rev. C. Vogelaar, Covell Avenue, Grand Rapids, MI

It has been a great blessing for the church that so many of the writings of our forefathers have been preserved. Much necessary instruction may still be received from them, and we hope that there may also be much desire for this instruction. Perhaps it may require a little effort in order to understand them, but it would be a great disadvantage to us personally if those books would stay on our bookshelves without having been used.

Not only books but also letters written by God’s children in former days may be useful and instructive. How precious have the letters of Samuel Rutherford, written while in exile, become to people who have been warmed by the love to Christ which is so clearly expressed in them. Personal letters to friends and fellow believers may give us an impression of their close life with the Lord, of their struggles and deliverances. It is to be feared that in our days of busyness and hurry there will not be much that will be preserved for coming generations. Perhaps this is not only because of the busyness but also because of a lack of that close life with the Lord and with others, with His children. When the spiritual family ties become weaker and the communion of saints is not practiced so much, there will also be less desire to write about the leadings of the Lord with those who should be pilgrims and strangers in this world.

As valuable and as precious as these human writings may be, however, they may never take the place of the letters recorded in God’s Holy Word. These epistles were inspired by the Holy Spirit and are able to make us wise unto salvation. Paul wrote several episdes to the various churches. He also wrote pastoral letters to Timothy and Titus, for example, in order to warn or encourage them.

There is one letter from Paul which is a strictly private one, that is, to Philemon, one of his fellow believers. This is a very short letter, but it is full of instruction also for today. May the Lord guide us when we will try to search this letter for the lessons which are given in it and the message it brings to not only runaways and rebellious sinners but also to God’s dear children.

The sender of it

Verse 1: “Paul, a prisoner of Jesus Christ.” This is how Paul introduces himself. No, he does not say, Paul, an apostie of Jesus Christ, as he does in other episdes. Although he has authority, received from his Sender to come with an apostolic command to Philemon, he does not do so.

No, instead, we read, “Paul, a prisoner,” and this he was. First, in Jerusalem, then for two years in Caesarea, and now for about two years in Rome, Paul has been deprived of his freedom. He is an apostle in bonds. He does not mention this to just get some sympathy but to contrast his own suffering with the small sacrifice he will ask of Philemon in this letter. How could Philemon resist an appeal written from within prison walls by a hand bound in chains for the Master’s sake? For Paul is not just a prisoner of the emperor of Rome, he is a prisoner of Jesus Christ. He is a prisoner in two ways:

a. He is a prisoner bound for Christ’s sake. It is for His cause, His Church, and His honor that he must suffer imprisonment.

b. He is also a prisoner bound to Christ. However, these are blessed bonds of love, of willing service. By nature we are all bound in the service of the Prince of Darkness which, in reality, is nothing but slavery. We are in a prison so terrible and so dark that our condition is hopeless from the human side. No one is able to deliver us out of it; neither are we willing to be delivered from this slavery. In our blindness we believe the illusion that we are free. However, there is One who is able to deliver and save poor slaves and set them free. He is that blessed Servant of the Father, who came to do His will, to seek and to save those who were lost. Christ was willing to be bound and to carry the punishment they deserved in order to restore them into the blessed communion with God and to give them true liberty. Paul had experienced this himself when the Lord stopped him on the road to Damascus and he, as a lost and condemnable sinner, learned to cry for mercy. He was now a prisoner of a good Master, his dear Lord and King, Jesus Christ.

“... and Timothy our brother,” Paul continues. “Our brother,” that is the brother of Paul, of Philemon, and of all believers. Timothy is a member of the same family, the household of God. He is also bound to Paul’s Master and to His people with bonds of love and willing service. What a great privilege that is. To what family do you belong, and who is your master? There is yet place in Christ’s service for those who may forsake the other master and surrender to Him.

The address

Unto Philemon our dearly beloved, and fellow-labourer.” Philemon is the person to whom this letter is sent, a dearly beloved child of God, and a fellow-labourer. Philemon’s name also means: beloved, loving or affectionate. A name does not always accurately describe who the bearer of it really is. The name Absalom means father of peace, but he was a wicked rebel who pursued his own father and made war in Israel. He was a disturber of the peace; thus, his name did not fit the person he was.

Philemon, however, may carry his name as a message of a blessed reality. He was a lover of those that fear the Lord. More than that, he truly loved the Lord and His service. For Philemon it was also true: we love Him, because He first loved us. This becomes a wonder to all who may experience this sovereign, incomprehensible love. No, it was not Philemon who had first asked for God, but the Lord had found him and had drawn him irresistibly to Himself and His service. “I have loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn thee.” Therefore, the service of God had become precious to Philemon.

“... and fellow-labourer.” Although Philemon may not have been an officially ordained elder or an evangelist, he laboured in the office of all believers among them who were in his house. His family was a little church in itself, as we also see in the second verse. He did not just talk religion to others while neglecting his own loved ones. No, he gathered them around God’s Word, together with his servants and all who were in his house, and laboured among them with the gifts and the grace the Lord had given him. He could say with Joshua, “As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” Paul puts himself next to his friend and calls him a fellow-labourer. The apostle knows that it is only by the grace of God that he is who he is. Grace humbles a man, so he could sit next to Philemon, even though he was perhaps only a young convert. Paul had been the instrument for his conversion, which possibly took place when Philemon heard Paul during a business trip to Ephesus. Sweet ties bound these two men together in the service of the Lord.

In his address, Paul also mentions Apphia, the wife of Philemon, and Archippus, probably their son. What a blessed family this must have been. There were ties which never could be broken anymore. These are bonds of love which are laid by the Lord Himself when He makes enemies to be His friends.

Paul also mentions Archippus in the epistle to the Colossians: “And say to Archippus, Take heed to the ministry which thou hast received in the Lord, that thou fulfil it.” In his personal letter to Philemon he calls Archippus “our fellow-soldier.” A strange name, you might say. Why a soldier and not a minister or perhaps a labourer? Paul knows why. All believers and also all workers in God’s vineyard are involved in warfare. Bunyan describes this warfare in his book The Holy War. As soon as the Lord glorifies the work of His sovereign grace in the heart, this warfare begins. It is a heavy, severe battle against mighty enemies. These enemies are the devil, the world, and their own corrupt flesh. In themselves the soldiers are so weak that they cannot stand for a moment, but the Lord will fight for them. Christ has fought the battle already and conquered all His enemies on Golgotha. He arose from the grave as Victor over hell, death, and the grave. In Him a weak and powerless people will be more than conquerors. Their victory is sure in Him, the Captain, Prince Immanuel, who is the Almighty God. That is the only reason why Paul could write to his spiritual son Timothy: “I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith.” On which side are we fighting, under which captain and in whose service?

Paul also addresses this letter “to the church in thy house.” These include the members of his family, the servants of Philemon, and all who were gathered in this little house church. Such a church does not have to be big. If only the Lord will dwell there, then it is a blessed assembly. May our homes be such little churches, and may we long for His presence. His presence is everything. Without Him, the most beautiful building and the largest assembly will be empty and without fruit. With Him and His nearness, Paul can be in prison, and Philemon will have blessed meetings in his house.

There the Lord will be honored, and His name will be praised for His drawing, guiding, and preserving love. Young people, and older ones, He is so worthy to be praised and to receive the honor for what He alone has given.

— To be continued —


The institutions of Christ, not the inventions of men, are the rule of worship. Our work is not to make laws for ourselves or others but to keep the laws which the great Prophet of His church has taught us. That coin of worship which is current among us must be stamped by God Himself. We are to be governed as the point in the compass, not by the various winds (the practices of former ages, or the fashions of the present generation, which are mutable and uncertain), but by the constant heavens. Our devotion must be regulated exactly according to the standard of the Word. It is idolatry to worship a false god, or the true God in a false manner.

— George Swinnock

Deze tekst is geautomatiseerd gemaakt en kan nog fouten bevatten. Digibron werkt voortdurend aan correctie. Klik voor het origineel door naar de pdf. Voor opmerkingen, vragen, informatie: contact.

Op Digibron -en alle daarin opgenomen content- is het databankrecht van toepassing. Gebruiksvoorwaarden. Data protection law applies to Digibron and the content of this database. Terms of use.

Bekijk de hele uitgave van donderdag 1 maart 2012

The Banner of Truth | 24 Pagina's

Paul’s Epistle to Philemon (1)

Bekijk de hele uitgave van donderdag 1 maart 2012

The Banner of Truth | 24 Pagina's