September 7, 2023 • 24 mins
Ever wonder how faith can persist even in the direst of circumstances? This week, our journey through the book of Philemon explores this question and more. As we delve into Paul's letter penned from his prison cell, we uncover the profound beauty of his bond with Philemon, a wealthy converted Jew. We marvel at the strength of Philemon's faith and the way it has positively influenced those around him. Tune in to hear how Paul, even while imprisoned, remains hopeful and even requests a guest room at Philemon's home, hinting at his optimism for future release.
But there's more to this story than meets the eye. We are introduced to Onissimus, a runaway slave who crosses paths with Paul and, under his guidance, finds his own path to Christianity. As we unravel Paul's plea to Philemon to accept and forgive Onissimus, we are challenged to reconsider our relationships with our brothers and sisters in faith. Can we embrace forgiveness and reconciliation as Paul urges us to do? Together, let's examine how this letter, despite its deeply personal nature, holds a broader message, inviting us all to be a positive influence in the lives of those around us. Join us for an enlightening discussion about faith, forgiveness, and friendship - even in the face of adversity.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
Welcome back to the to fish podcast.
My name is Nick, I'm Aaron andthis week we're continuing our
Bible study, moving into thehuge book of Philemon.
I said huge, it's not reallythat big.
Speaker 2 (00:18):
It's huge.
It's so big that you you mightmiss it if you're flipping
through the Bible.
Speaker 1 (00:26):
My Bible ESV or die three-quarter of a page.
Speaker 2 (00:30):
Yeah, luckily my Bible that I'm reading out of
today has tabs with all the booknames on it.
Yeah, so I could find it reallyquick, but in my book it's on
page 1434.
Speaker 1 (00:41):
So turn there and join us.
We're gonna go through the bookof the page of Philemon Right
before Hebrews.
Hebrews, yes.
Speaker 2 (00:48):
I think, as we go through this pre-show, talking,
nick and I think it'll beimportant to go back to the.
I got baptized now what episode?
As we walk through this, wethink they'll kind of go
hand-in-hand.
So if you haven't listened tothat episode, go back a couple,
listen to that one.
We think they're gonna tie inpretty well.
Speaker 1 (01:09):
Yeah, remember him back on.
That one is a very a theme ofyou know, a new Christian came
along, your friend just gotbaptized, I think was the title
of it, like you said, and howcan I walk alongside that person
now?
And I think how can I walkbeside a brother and things like
that?
And here Paul, as we start toread, is very much sticking his
arm out and sticking his neckout in love for this friend and
(01:33):
trying to walk together with him.
So we'll get going.
One more side note there'sseveral names in this.
They're all gonna be butchered,so pronounce them however you
want, but it's probably not howI'm gonna pronounce them as we
go through here.
So so here we go.
Let's get started here.
Philemon, verse one Paul,prisoner of Christ, and Timothy,
(01:57):
our brother.
To Philemon, our beloved fellowworker, and Appiah, our sister,
and Archipus, our fellowsoldier, and the church in your
house.
Grace to you and peace from God, our father and the Lord Jesus
Christ.
Speaker 2 (02:16):
So a little context here.
Paul is sitting in prison whenhe's writing this sitting in
prison and he's writing toPhilemon, who is a rich
converted Jew.
Paul's writing this letter fromprison as my verse read in
prison for preaching the goodnews about Christ.
I think you're read a littlebit different.
(02:38):
Mind a little clearer that he'sin prison writing this yeah, and
I believe this letter was wroteabout same time as Colossians.
A little bit of backgroundthere.
So that opening paragraph hekind of describes just who he's
writing to, where he's at, andthen I think as we dive into
these verses down below we'llfind out why he's right yeah.
Speaker 1 (02:59):
But I think an interesting point to this
greeting is it's not like othergreetings that he's given when
he addresses the church thechurch in Colossians, the church
of Ephesians, the church inGalatians as he's writing this.
He's writing it and he says I'mgonna Paul, the Apostle, I'm.
He puts himself not in apedestal to say I'm looking me,
(03:20):
I'm so good, but he puts himselfin a place of authority to say
God, put me in this position,you can trust me.
We talked about that before.
As we've broken down throughthese verses.
Peter does the same thing, butin this one it's different.
He said hey, I'm a prisoner andI'm in prison.
Hey, this is to Philemon, abeloved brother, a couple other
people.
Speaker 2 (03:39):
Grace to you, it's very personable yeah, and with
Philemon he also points to thatthis guy hosts a church and his
house which would possibly pointto, the guy has some wealth,
has some property.
He's leading a church.
It's not the same.
Speaker 1 (04:00):
If you go and read the rest of, yeah, paul's
letters, it's almost as ifPhilemon might be a friend, you
know, I mean, he probably, paul,probably went through this area
, spent some time in this house.
Church became friends withPhilemon, became friends with
these people and this is less ofa hey look, church as a whole.
I'm writing this because youguys stink at this or that, or
(04:22):
good job.
This is more of a personalletter yeah but not to say that
we can't get excellent things,and that's why it's in scripture
here, verse number four, movingon.
I thank God always when Iremember you in my prayers,
because I hear of your love andof the faith that you have
towards the Lord Jesus and forall the saints, and I pray that
(04:44):
the sharing of your faith maybecome effective for the full
knowledge of every good thingthat is in us.
For the sake of God, for thesake of Christ or.
I have derived much joy andcomfort from your love, my
brother, because the hearts ofthe saints have been refreshed
through you.
Speaker 2 (05:02):
So right there, paul, obviously just showing the
amount of respect that he hasfor for him, and he is laying it
out on the table, like we'veseen him in some letters that
way, but he's opening thisletter that way.
Like you are my brother, Irespect what you're doing in
your church and your house and Ihold you in high regards.
Speaker 1 (05:27):
Yeah, and I think obviously Philemon is effective
in what they're doing at hischurch, because I hear of the
love and of the faith.
So it's not just hey, Iremember it, I'm hearing about
it, it's coming out of yourchurch, you know as he's here
and yet contagious.
That's a great word.
You're effective and you'redoing what needs to be done,
(05:50):
because it's spreading.
It's not just staying in yourlittle small group or it's not
just staying in your littlechurch on the corner.
What you're doing is reachingpeople, is reaching people.
It's, it is the greatcommission.
That is the commission that acouple of chapters go in acts.
A couple of chapters ago, jesushimself said this is what you
need to do Go and preach, andit's just, it's, it's spreading.
(06:11):
And he's saying man, you'regiving me so much joy and
comfort to know Paul respectsthis guy.
Like you said, verse numbereight.
Accordingly, though, I am boldenough in Christ to command you
to do what is required, yet, forlove's sake, I prefer to appeal
to you.
I think.
Just pause and write there.
Where is the?
What we've seen in other verses?
(06:32):
Hey, I'm coming to you withauthority, whereas I could
command you, I'm going to, I'm.
I'm going to hold that becauseI could, but I'm going to ask
you, I'm going to appeal to you,I'm going to ask you that you
do the right thing here.
Moving on, I, paul, an old manand now a prisoner, also for
Christ Jesus, I appeal to youfor my child on this who's
(06:55):
father I became in myimprisonment.
Formerly he was useless to you,but now he is indeed useful to
you and to me.
I am sending him back to you,sending my very heart.
I would have been glad to keephim with me in order that he
might serve me on your behalfduring my imprisonment for the
gospel.
But I preferred to do nothingwithout your consent, in order
(07:18):
that your goodness might not beby compulsion, but out of your
own accord Verse 15, for this,perhaps, is why he was parted
from you for a while, that youmight have him back forever, no
longer as a bond servant, butmore than a bond servant, as a
beloved brother, especially tome, but how much more to you,
(07:39):
both in the flesh and in theLord.
So here's Paul's predicamenthe's in prison and he's come
across this guy, onissimus, whowas a slave, a bond servant,
owned by Philemon, and for somereason he's in prison.
It seems as though he's inprison with Paul here and Paul's
using him to help him in hisown work.
(08:01):
Whether it's spreading thegospel in the prison, whether
it's right in the writings,whatever it is, he's become a
brother to Paul, yeah.
Speaker 2 (08:09):
Yeah, obviously this.
This guy did something toowrong, philemon, because he ran
away, but he still ended up inprison.
So, and we don't know exactlywhat he did wrong, right, but he
ends up, just happens to end upin the same prison as Paul.
Yeah, it's like, what are theodds of that?
(08:30):
And Paul ends up sharing thegospel to him and this guy's
converted.
So, like our episode a fewweeks ago, here it is Paul
baptizes this guy.
We don't know that he baptizeshim, but he's a.
He clearly states he is abeliever, he is a changed man.
Yeah, I'm sending him back toyou.
A changed man.
(08:51):
I know he wronged you and I'mpleading with you to see this
guy for who he is today, not forwhat he did to you in the past,
which is how we should walkwith our brothers that are
converted, that come to the newlife.
But they also have to displaythat, and I believe this slave
(09:12):
is displaying that to Paulbecause Paul's going to bat for
him.
Speaker 1 (09:17):
Yeah, I think verse 13,.
I would have been glad to keephim with me in order that he
might he might serve me on yourbehalf during my imprisonment
for the gospel.
I think that maybe this guy'sbeen set free, but he could stay
with Paul and help Paul, andthat would greatly help Paul.
That would be good for him.
But Paul's decided the rightthing to do is to send him back
(09:41):
Now.
That doesn't make sense,especially in today's society,
2023,.
He's a slave.
Slavery is bad.
We should free slaves and, yes,I'm agreeing 100% with that.
But Paul's saying while that'sright and that's what he's doing
here, he's pleading.
While I want him to be free,while he is a changed man, while
(10:05):
he can help me spread thegospel, he's also a slave and
the right thing to do is go backto your master.
Yeah, and I think he addressesthat Paul does in Colossians and
in Ephesians.
Actually, in Ephesians a coupleof weeks ago, in that episode
even we were talking about menand women.
You know the whole section inchapter five where it talks
about wives and husbands and howwe should love and respect and
submit to each other.
(10:25):
And then in chapter six, hewrites about to children and
parents.
But then he writes to bondservants and masters in verse
five bond servants, obey yourearthly masters with trembling,
with fear and trembling with asincere heart, as you would
Christ, not by the way of eyeopening, not by the way of eye
(10:46):
service, as people pleasers, butas bond servants of Christ,
doing the will of God from theheart.
And then in Colossians chapter,and then in Colossians chapter
three, all the way down at verse22,.
He says again bond servants,obey in everything those who are
your earthly masters, not byway of eye service as people
(11:08):
pleasers, but then sincerity ofthe heart, fearing the Lord.
Whatever you do, work heartedly,ask for the Lord and not for
them, knowing that the Lord,knowing that from the Lord you
will receive the inheritance asyour Lord, you are serving the
Lord, you are serving the Lord,christ, for the wrong to will be
paid back for the wrong he hasdone, and there is no partiality
(11:32):
.
So it blows my mind to havethis thought process here.
Slavery is bad, but if that isyour lot, which is horrible,
paul said do it well, and it's atestimony for Christ.
And so, anissimus, here back toPhilemon.
(11:56):
You're a bond servant toPhilemon.
Go back and do it well, butwith that, I'm gonna send this
letter saying man, I'm gonnaplead to you, do the right thing
here.
He's a changed guy, let him befree and help.
To help in the ministry of theLord.
Speaker 2 (12:17):
Yeah, because Philemon probably in that time
had every right to either beatthis guy or execute him when he
came back Like he does not haveto accept him back into his pool
of people, and I'm guessingthat Anissimus I'm guessing
(12:38):
Anissimus was not jumping up anddown to go back.
Yeah, because he knows that hewon.
He didn't live the way you justdescribed.
He wasn't a believer then andobviously he ran away and he did
something wrong to them andthen clearly he's in jail.
So maybe he had two wrongsalong the way.
(13:00):
So this guy's probably noteager to get back out there and
go back to his master and oneprobably have to ask for
forgiveness.
But luckily he has a letterfrom Paul pleading on his behalf
of his changed life.
Speaker 1 (13:18):
But also knowing that this letter might fall in deaf
ears.
Yeah, and he's gonna go back toa master.
That could be hard on him andcould beat him and could do all
the things that he formallytried to get away from, possibly
, but the fact of the matter isthis letter made it to Philemon,
so he went back.
Can you imagine thatconversation with Paul sitting
(13:39):
in prison and Paul's like hey,your time's up here, you need to
go back.
Can you imagine that?
Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, I justchanged my life.
Why would I go back to that?
It's the right thing to do.
Yeah, I just can't.
I can't imagine thatconversation that they had there
in prison.
Speaker 2 (13:54):
No, that was I imagine he had to give him quite
the pep talk, yeah exactly.
Speaker 1 (14:01):
That's funny.
Verse 17, so if you consider meyour partner, this is again
Paul writing in Philemon.
Receive him as you wouldreceive me.
If he has wronged you at all orowes you anything, charge that
to my account.
Verse 19, I, paul, write thiswith my own hand.
I will repay it.
To say nothing of, you areowing me even your own self.
(14:23):
Yes, brother, I want somebenefit from you and the Lord,
refresh my heart in Christ.
Speaker 2 (14:29):
Verse 19,.
I like how mine reads here.
I, Paul, write this in my ownhandwriting.
I will repay it and I won'tmention that you owe me your
very soul.
Speaker 1 (14:42):
That kind of sounds like he's like hey, remember how
I, how I, led you to Christ.
Don't forget that.
Speaker 2 (14:48):
How does yours read again?
Speaker 1 (14:50):
To say nothing of your owing me, even your own
self.
Speaker 2 (14:54):
That's what he's saying so I'm not calling on a
favor.
Speaker 1 (14:57):
I think maybe some way to think about what he's
saying there is hey, obviouslyhe led him to Christ, but he's
not saying, hey, I'm not tryingto call favor here.
I'm not trying to say, rememberwhat I've done for you.
I'm saying I'll repay it If heowes you.
Speaker 2 (15:13):
I'm paying it.
I'll pay it back.
I don't care what it is, I'mgoing to pay it, and it's not
that I'm calling in a favor.
Speaker 1 (15:19):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (15:20):
And he's writing in his own handwriting yeah.
That would point to.
Maybe somebody else wrote forPaul sometimes.
Speaker 1 (15:28):
I think I want to say I just study on this and I'm
pretty sure that Mark spent sometime with Paul walking around
doing some of Paul's writings,so that could be that this is
actually Paul writing, and thispoints to, again, the personable
.
These guys are probably friends.
Yeah, he's saying I'm going towrite a special letter from a
(15:50):
standpoint of not not ofauthority, but from a friend
asking a friend for something.
Speaker 2 (15:55):
Yeah, verse 20.
I mean, yes, dear brother,please do me this favor, for the
Lord's sake, give me thisencouragement in Christ.
I am confident, as I write thisletter, that you will do what I
ask, and even more.
Speaker 1 (16:11):
That's like saying thanks in advance for doing what
I'm asking.
He's got.
He's got.
He knows that this guy is goingto do the right thing.
He has it.
I just want to point out backVerse 17.
So if you consider me a partner, receive him as you would
receive me.
So he goes from a slave.
Whatever transpires, we have noidea to now.
(16:32):
Paul is sending him back anduntil he reads this letter, the
guy why you leave him probablyhas no idea what's going on,
just that he's been gone.
Yeah, could be received him asthough you received him.
Receive him as though youreceived me, which I would got
to assume.
Product, oh son, kind of thing.
When these buddies get together, they're going to be embracing
each other like, oh my gosh, Ihaven't seen you in so long.
(16:53):
This is amazing.
Tell me everything.
I, you know what.
Speaker 2 (16:56):
I mean, yeah, that's a good point I hadn't thought
about it that way.
Speaker 1 (17:01):
And then he's saying the slave that something
happened, he's gone, he's inprison, he's coming back.
Receive him that same way, withthe love of Christ, as a friend
.
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (17:13):
Basically, what Paul's saying to do here is
greet him with open arms andaccept him as a brother in
Christ, not as your slave.
He's on the same level as usnow.
Yeah, he went from Gentile tobeliever or slave to believer.
Speaker 1 (17:33):
Yeah, that's good 22.
At the same time, prepare aguest room for me, for I'm
hoping that through your prayersI will be graciously given to
you.
So Paul's hoping he's gettingready to get out of prison.
Hey, by the way, I need a roomto stay Cause.
I got nothing right now, whichwhich then tells me hey, I'm
going to check up on thissituation.
Yeah, is that okay?
Oh, hey, I know you're going todo the right thing.
(17:55):
Confident of your obedience, Iwrite to you and, by the way,
I'm going to come and stay withyou, and that very well could be
Paul also saying I'm going tosettle these debts.
Like I promised, I'm coming,we're going to take care of the
business that he owed you andI'm also going to make sure you
did the right thing.
Speaker 2 (18:14):
I'm going to live up to my end of the deal.
If he owes you something, I'mcoming to pay it.
I am going to charge you a roomfee, though, but I'm coming
Like I want to be with you.
I want to see that the rightthing transpired here.
I wish I had a map.
One of the things I listened toI was a guy doing a video
(18:38):
Showed like the distance thesewere from each other, like
whatever C was in between them.
Like this would have taken sometime.
Anyway, it would take some timeto get back to his master, and
then it would also it's going totake Paul time to get there and
to follow up with it.
So there's going to be perhapsmonths in this whole operation
(19:03):
of forgiving.
I think a big thing here isforgiving and how to walk with a
brother that changed his lifeand you know he did a lot of
wrong and show love.
Speaker 1 (19:15):
in that you wronged, I got to learn to love.
I got to learn to forgive.
I got to learn to love.
Speaker 2 (19:20):
Yeah, and to go go to bat for your brother.
Like I know he screwed up backhere, but I know who he is today
.
Speaker 1 (19:28):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (19:29):
I know he's a Christ follower and I know he's not
going to do that again.
Speaker 1 (19:33):
I think, probably just in my own life, just
thinking about it, how manythere's been several times where
I wish I would have had a Paulin a moment to say, hey, I know
Nick's done wrong here, but hehas changed.
He does do things differentlyand a lot of times we don't have
that person Obviously.
I don't think any of us havethat.
What Paul's doing here.
(19:53):
Very few of us have that.
Speaker 2 (19:56):
I'm going to forgive.
Speaker 1 (19:58):
I'm going to pay off his debts, whatever kind of
debts those are, whethermonetary or you know whatever
they are, but that this guybecame a Christ follower.
And I don't think in our ownjourney following Christ, we're
going to get this.
It's not going to be easy.
We're not going to get the hey,I came to Christ.
(20:19):
I met this pastor who I'mstudying under and all of a
sudden now life is good, mydebts are cleared, I'm being
freed.
That doesn't happen to most ofus.
Speaker 2 (20:32):
Right.
Speaker 1 (20:33):
There are consequences to our sin, which
there was for him too, but ourjourney is going to be hard.
Speaker 2 (20:40):
Now, by no means does any of this point to something
that's going to be easy for him,like he's going back to
something that he tried to runfrom.
Speaker 1 (20:48):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (20:49):
And my guess is he's going to have to do some of the
same work, but he's also goingto help preach the good news and
spread the good news out of ahome church, as Paul described.
That is doing great workalready.
Yeah, I man, which also makesyou think like he had to have
heard the gospel already.
(21:10):
So the seed was maybe plantedand then confirmed when he was
in jail with Paul.
Speaker 1 (21:16):
Yeah, that's true.
I just thoughts keep talking,popping in my mind that the map
idea, how this was so far of adistance to travel.
I Think there was a lot offaith in this too.
For onusmas to say, okay, I'mgonna trust that I'm doing the
right thing and that God's gonnaprovide for me, because there
was a lot of time and ocean.
(21:38):
It's gonna be in a Jonahsituation.
He could have got halfwaythrough and said, nah, ain't
happening.
I've decided it's not worth it.
Yeah, potential of this goingwrong is not worth it.
I'm out of here.
Speaker 2 (21:51):
Well, I think the the other thing I heard in regards
to that Um, he could have beencaptured by another slave owner
and that slave owner could havekept him.
Speaker 1 (22:01):
That's true too, and he would have been right back to
being a slave.
Speaker 2 (22:04):
He would have been right back to being a slave
under somebody else.
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (22:07):
I think there's a lot of faith on an onusmas is Part
two, because a lot of thingscould go wrong.
The letter could get lost.
Speaker 2 (22:16):
At sea, you know.
I mean like and then he's theyhad more accurate mail back then
, oh, they did, yeah, theydidn't have the USPS.
Modern day mail is not so good.
Speaker 1 (22:26):
Oh, that's funny finishing up here.
Verse 23, epaphores my fellowprisoner in Christ Jesus, sends
greetings to you, and so do Mark, artificious, dap, demis and
Luke, my fellow workers.
The grace of the Lord Christ bewith you in spirit.
(22:46):
There you go in verse 24.
It does say mark.
I Can not confirm but I'mpretty sure that that is mark,
the gospel of mark, who spent alot of time with Paul Writing
and helping write Paul.
I have done some research andsome people think that mark, the
gospel of mark, is pinned bymark, but it was Paul's Talking
(23:11):
through it, saying through it.
So All those guys are sittingin prayer in prison with them
and he's saying, hey, these guyssend their greetings, which you
know, paul's.
That guy that sat in prison andSang was happy in his
imprisonment.
I don't think I could be thesame way.
It's hard to see my faith bethat strong to say, no matter
(23:31):
what the situation is, I'm gonna, we're gonna be happy, we're
gonna praise God for oursuffering.
These guys are with me, we'reexcited to get out and come to
you To make sure that you didwhat you said you, what I told
you to do, what I pleaded youright and we're gonna do our end
the bargain to make it up.
Speaker 2 (23:48):
Yeah, I love it.
What a great little book.
That is great.
What 25 25 verses there that Ithink speak a lot to how we
should live as Christians andhow we should treat one another,
perhaps how we shouldn't putourselves on a pedestal.
We're all Christ followers andon the same level, so I think
(24:12):
this week that's a that's a goodreflection point.
Um, who are you walking with?
Who can you go to bat for?
Who maybe needs you to go tobat for them?
Oh, that's good, and Just justtake a moment and reflect on on
those things.
And and maybe there's evensomebody in your past that you
need to Go back to and say hey,man, I really wronged you here.
(24:34):
Let me, let me pay my debt backto you.
That's the challenge for thisweek to fish community.
We greatly appreciate you andwe'll see you in a couple weeks.
You.
Welcome back to the to fish podcast.
My name is Nick, I'm Aaron andthis week we're continuing our
Bible study, moving into thehuge book of Philemon.
I said huge, it's not reallythat big.
Speaker 2 (00:18):
It's huge.
It's so big that you you mightmiss it if you're flipping
through the Bible.
Speaker 1 (00:26):
My Bible ESV or die three-quarter of a page.
Speaker 2 (00:30):
Yeah, luckily my Bible that I'm reading out of
today has tabs with all the booknames on it.
Yeah, so I could find it reallyquick, but in my book it's on
page 1434.
Speaker 1 (00:41):
So turn there and join us.
We're gonna go through the bookof the page of Philemon Right
before Hebrews.
Hebrews, yes.
Speaker 2 (00:48):
I think, as we go through this pre-show, talking,
nick and I think it'll beimportant to go back to the.
I got baptized now what episode?
As we walk through this, wethink they'll kind of go
hand-in-hand.
So if you haven't listened tothat episode, go back a couple,
listen to that one.
We think they're gonna tie inpretty well.
Speaker 1 (01:09):
Yeah, remember him back on.
That one is a very a theme ofyou know, a new Christian came
along, your friend just gotbaptized, I think was the title
of it, like you said, and howcan I walk alongside that person
now?
And I think how can I walkbeside a brother and things like
that?
And here Paul, as we start toread, is very much sticking his
arm out and sticking his neckout in love for this friend and
(01:33):
trying to walk together with him.
So we'll get going.
One more side note there'sseveral names in this.
They're all gonna be butchered,so pronounce them however you
want, but it's probably not howI'm gonna pronounce them as we
go through here.
So so here we go.
Let's get started here.
Philemon, verse one Paul,prisoner of Christ, and Timothy,
(01:57):
our brother.
To Philemon, our beloved fellowworker, and Appiah, our sister,
and Archipus, our fellowsoldier, and the church in your
house.
Grace to you and peace from God, our father and the Lord Jesus
Christ.
Speaker 2 (02:16):
So a little context here.
Paul is sitting in prison whenhe's writing this sitting in
prison and he's writing toPhilemon, who is a rich
converted Jew.
Paul's writing this letter fromprison as my verse read in
prison for preaching the goodnews about Christ.
I think you're read a littlebit different.
(02:38):
Mind a little clearer that he'sin prison writing this yeah, and
I believe this letter was wroteabout same time as Colossians.
A little bit of backgroundthere.
So that opening paragraph hekind of describes just who he's
writing to, where he's at, andthen I think as we dive into
these verses down below we'llfind out why he's right yeah.
Speaker 1 (02:59):
But I think an interesting point to this
greeting is it's not like othergreetings that he's given when
he addresses the church thechurch in Colossians, the church
of Ephesians, the church inGalatians as he's writing this.
He's writing it and he says I'mgonna Paul, the Apostle, I'm.
He puts himself not in apedestal to say I'm looking me,
(03:20):
I'm so good, but he puts himselfin a place of authority to say
God, put me in this position,you can trust me.
We talked about that before.
As we've broken down throughthese verses.
Peter does the same thing, butin this one it's different.
He said hey, I'm a prisoner andI'm in prison.
Hey, this is to Philemon, abeloved brother, a couple other
people.
Speaker 2 (03:39):
Grace to you, it's very personable yeah, and with
Philemon he also points to thatthis guy hosts a church and his
house which would possibly pointto, the guy has some wealth,
has some property.
He's leading a church.
It's not the same.
Speaker 1 (04:00):
If you go and read the rest of, yeah, paul's
letters, it's almost as ifPhilemon might be a friend, you
know, I mean, he probably, paul,probably went through this area
, spent some time in this house.
Church became friends withPhilemon, became friends with
these people and this is less ofa hey look, church as a whole.
I'm writing this because youguys stink at this or that, or
(04:22):
good job.
This is more of a personalletter yeah but not to say that
we can't get excellent things,and that's why it's in scripture
here, verse number four, movingon.
I thank God always when Iremember you in my prayers,
because I hear of your love andof the faith that you have
towards the Lord Jesus and forall the saints, and I pray that
(04:44):
the sharing of your faith maybecome effective for the full
knowledge of every good thingthat is in us.
For the sake of God, for thesake of Christ or.
I have derived much joy andcomfort from your love, my
brother, because the hearts ofthe saints have been refreshed
through you.
Speaker 2 (05:02):
So right there, paul, obviously just showing the
amount of respect that he hasfor for him, and he is laying it
out on the table, like we'veseen him in some letters that
way, but he's opening thisletter that way.
Like you are my brother, Irespect what you're doing in
your church and your house and Ihold you in high regards.
Speaker 1 (05:27):
Yeah, and I think obviously Philemon is effective
in what they're doing at hischurch, because I hear of the
love and of the faith.
So it's not just hey, Iremember it, I'm hearing about
it, it's coming out of yourchurch, you know as he's here
and yet contagious.
That's a great word.
You're effective and you'redoing what needs to be done,
(05:50):
because it's spreading.
It's not just staying in yourlittle small group or it's not
just staying in your littlechurch on the corner.
What you're doing is reachingpeople, is reaching people.
It's, it is the greatcommission.
That is the commission that acouple of chapters go in acts.
A couple of chapters ago, jesushimself said this is what you
need to do Go and preach, andit's just, it's, it's spreading.
(06:11):
And he's saying man, you'regiving me so much joy and
comfort to know Paul respectsthis guy.
Like you said, verse numbereight.
Accordingly, though, I am boldenough in Christ to command you
to do what is required, yet, forlove's sake, I prefer to appeal
to you.
I think.
Just pause and write there.
Where is the?
What we've seen in other verses?
(06:32):
Hey, I'm coming to you withauthority, whereas I could
command you, I'm going to, I'm.
I'm going to hold that becauseI could, but I'm going to ask
you, I'm going to appeal to you,I'm going to ask you that you
do the right thing here.
Moving on, I, paul, an old manand now a prisoner, also for
Christ Jesus, I appeal to youfor my child on this who's
(06:55):
father I became in myimprisonment.
Formerly he was useless to you,but now he is indeed useful to
you and to me.
I am sending him back to you,sending my very heart.
I would have been glad to keephim with me in order that he
might serve me on your behalfduring my imprisonment for the
gospel.
But I preferred to do nothingwithout your consent, in order
(07:18):
that your goodness might not beby compulsion, but out of your
own accord Verse 15, for this,perhaps, is why he was parted
from you for a while, that youmight have him back forever, no
longer as a bond servant, butmore than a bond servant, as a
beloved brother, especially tome, but how much more to you,
(07:39):
both in the flesh and in theLord.
So here's Paul's predicamenthe's in prison and he's come
across this guy, onissimus, whowas a slave, a bond servant,
owned by Philemon, and for somereason he's in prison.
It seems as though he's inprison with Paul here and Paul's
using him to help him in hisown work.
(08:01):
Whether it's spreading thegospel in the prison, whether
it's right in the writings,whatever it is, he's become a
brother to Paul, yeah.
Speaker 2 (08:09):
Yeah, obviously this.
This guy did something toowrong, philemon, because he ran
away, but he still ended up inprison.
So, and we don't know exactlywhat he did wrong, right, but he
ends up, just happens to end upin the same prison as Paul.
Yeah, it's like, what are theodds of that?
(08:30):
And Paul ends up sharing thegospel to him and this guy's
converted.
So, like our episode a fewweeks ago, here it is Paul
baptizes this guy.
We don't know that he baptizeshim, but he's a.
He clearly states he is abeliever, he is a changed man.
Yeah, I'm sending him back toyou.
A changed man.
(08:51):
I know he wronged you and I'mpleading with you to see this
guy for who he is today, not forwhat he did to you in the past,
which is how we should walkwith our brothers that are
converted, that come to the newlife.
But they also have to displaythat, and I believe this slave
(09:12):
is displaying that to Paulbecause Paul's going to bat for
him.
Speaker 1 (09:17):
Yeah, I think verse 13,.
I would have been glad to keephim with me in order that he
might he might serve me on yourbehalf during my imprisonment
for the gospel.
I think that maybe this guy'sbeen set free, but he could stay
with Paul and help Paul, andthat would greatly help Paul.
That would be good for him.
But Paul's decided the rightthing to do is to send him back
(09:41):
Now.
That doesn't make sense,especially in today's society,
2023,.
He's a slave.
Slavery is bad.
We should free slaves and, yes,I'm agreeing 100% with that.
But Paul's saying while that'sright and that's what he's doing
here, he's pleading.
While I want him to be free,while he is a changed man, while
(10:05):
he can help me spread thegospel, he's also a slave and
the right thing to do is go backto your master.
Yeah, and I think he addressesthat Paul does in Colossians and
in Ephesians.
Actually, in Ephesians a coupleof weeks ago, in that episode
even we were talking about menand women.
You know the whole section inchapter five where it talks
about wives and husbands and howwe should love and respect and
submit to each other.
(10:25):
And then in chapter six, hewrites about to children and
parents.
But then he writes to bondservants and masters in verse
five bond servants, obey yourearthly masters with trembling,
with fear and trembling with asincere heart, as you would
Christ, not by the way of eyeopening, not by the way of eye
(10:46):
service, as people pleasers, butas bond servants of Christ,
doing the will of God from theheart.
And then in Colossians chapter,and then in Colossians chapter
three, all the way down at verse22,.
He says again bond servants,obey in everything those who are
your earthly masters, not byway of eye service as people
(11:08):
pleasers, but then sincerity ofthe heart, fearing the Lord.
Whatever you do, work heartedly,ask for the Lord and not for
them, knowing that the Lord,knowing that from the Lord you
will receive the inheritance asyour Lord, you are serving the
Lord, you are serving the Lord,christ, for the wrong to will be
paid back for the wrong he hasdone, and there is no partiality
(11:32):
.
So it blows my mind to havethis thought process here.
Slavery is bad, but if that isyour lot, which is horrible,
paul said do it well, and it's atestimony for Christ.
And so, anissimus, here back toPhilemon.
(11:56):
You're a bond servant toPhilemon.
Go back and do it well, butwith that, I'm gonna send this
letter saying man, I'm gonnaplead to you, do the right thing
here.
He's a changed guy, let him befree and help.
To help in the ministry of theLord.
Speaker 2 (12:17):
Yeah, because Philemon probably in that time
had every right to either beatthis guy or execute him when he
came back Like he does not haveto accept him back into his pool
of people, and I'm guessingthat Anissimus I'm guessing
(12:38):
Anissimus was not jumping up anddown to go back.
Yeah, because he knows that hewon.
He didn't live the way you justdescribed.
He wasn't a believer then andobviously he ran away and he did
something wrong to them andthen clearly he's in jail.
So maybe he had two wrongsalong the way.
(13:00):
So this guy's probably noteager to get back out there and
go back to his master and oneprobably have to ask for
forgiveness.
But luckily he has a letterfrom Paul pleading on his behalf
of his changed life.
Speaker 1 (13:18):
But also knowing that this letter might fall in deaf
ears.
Yeah, and he's gonna go back toa master.
That could be hard on him andcould beat him and could do all
the things that he formallytried to get away from, possibly
, but the fact of the matter isthis letter made it to Philemon,
so he went back.
Can you imagine thatconversation with Paul sitting
(13:39):
in prison and Paul's like hey,your time's up here, you need to
go back.
Can you imagine that?
Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, I justchanged my life.
Why would I go back to that?
It's the right thing to do.
Yeah, I just can't.
I can't imagine thatconversation that they had there
in prison.
Speaker 2 (13:54):
No, that was I imagine he had to give him quite
the pep talk, yeah exactly.
Speaker 1 (14:01):
That's funny.
Verse 17, so if you consider meyour partner, this is again
Paul writing in Philemon.
Receive him as you wouldreceive me.
If he has wronged you at all orowes you anything, charge that
to my account.
Verse 19, I, paul, write thiswith my own hand.
I will repay it.
To say nothing of, you areowing me even your own self.
(14:23):
Yes, brother, I want somebenefit from you and the Lord,
refresh my heart in Christ.
Speaker 2 (14:29):
Verse 19,.
I like how mine reads here.
I, Paul, write this in my ownhandwriting.
I will repay it and I won'tmention that you owe me your
very soul.
Speaker 1 (14:42):
That kind of sounds like he's like hey, remember how
I, how I, led you to Christ.
Don't forget that.
Speaker 2 (14:48):
How does yours read again?
Speaker 1 (14:50):
To say nothing of your owing me, even your own
self.
Speaker 2 (14:54):
That's what he's saying so I'm not calling on a
favor.
Speaker 1 (14:57):
I think maybe some way to think about what he's
saying there is hey, obviouslyhe led him to Christ, but he's
not saying, hey, I'm not tryingto call favor here.
I'm not trying to say, rememberwhat I've done for you.
I'm saying I'll repay it If heowes you.
Speaker 2 (15:13):
I'm paying it.
I'll pay it back.
I don't care what it is, I'mgoing to pay it, and it's not
that I'm calling in a favor.
Speaker 1 (15:19):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (15:20):
And he's writing in his own handwriting yeah.
That would point to.
Maybe somebody else wrote forPaul sometimes.
Speaker 1 (15:28):
I think I want to say I just study on this and I'm
pretty sure that Mark spent sometime with Paul walking around
doing some of Paul's writings,so that could be that this is
actually Paul writing, and thispoints to, again, the personable
.
These guys are probably friends.
Yeah, he's saying I'm going towrite a special letter from a
(15:50):
standpoint of not not ofauthority, but from a friend
asking a friend for something.
Speaker 2 (15:55):
Yeah, verse 20.
I mean, yes, dear brother,please do me this favor, for the
Lord's sake, give me thisencouragement in Christ.
I am confident, as I write thisletter, that you will do what I
ask, and even more.
Speaker 1 (16:11):
That's like saying thanks in advance for doing what
I'm asking.
He's got.
He's got.
He knows that this guy is goingto do the right thing.
He has it.
I just want to point out backVerse 17.
So if you consider me a partner, receive him as you would
receive me.
So he goes from a slave.
Whatever transpires, we have noidea to now.
(16:32):
Paul is sending him back anduntil he reads this letter, the
guy why you leave him probablyhas no idea what's going on,
just that he's been gone.
Yeah, could be received him asthough you received him.
Receive him as though youreceived me, which I would got
to assume.
Product, oh son, kind of thing.
When these buddies get together, they're going to be embracing
each other like, oh my gosh, Ihaven't seen you in so long.
(16:53):
This is amazing.
Tell me everything.
I, you know what.
Speaker 2 (16:56):
I mean, yeah, that's a good point I hadn't thought
about it that way.
Speaker 1 (17:01):
And then he's saying the slave that something
happened, he's gone, he's inprison, he's coming back.
Receive him that same way, withthe love of Christ, as a friend
.
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (17:13):
Basically, what Paul's saying to do here is
greet him with open arms andaccept him as a brother in
Christ, not as your slave.
He's on the same level as usnow.
Yeah, he went from Gentile tobeliever or slave to believer.
Speaker 1 (17:33):
Yeah, that's good 22.
At the same time, prepare aguest room for me, for I'm
hoping that through your prayersI will be graciously given to
you.
So Paul's hoping he's gettingready to get out of prison.
Hey, by the way, I need a roomto stay Cause.
I got nothing right now, whichwhich then tells me hey, I'm
going to check up on thissituation.
Yeah, is that okay?
Oh, hey, I know you're going todo the right thing.
(17:55):
Confident of your obedience, Iwrite to you and, by the way,
I'm going to come and stay withyou, and that very well could be
Paul also saying I'm going tosettle these debts.
Like I promised, I'm coming,we're going to take care of the
business that he owed you andI'm also going to make sure you
did the right thing.
Speaker 2 (18:14):
I'm going to live up to my end of the deal.
If he owes you something, I'mcoming to pay it.
I am going to charge you a roomfee, though, but I'm coming
Like I want to be with you.
I want to see that the rightthing transpired here.
I wish I had a map.
One of the things I listened toI was a guy doing a video
(18:38):
Showed like the distance thesewere from each other, like
whatever C was in between them.
Like this would have taken sometime.
Anyway, it would take some timeto get back to his master, and
then it would also it's going totake Paul time to get there and
to follow up with it.
So there's going to be perhapsmonths in this whole operation
(19:03):
of forgiving.
I think a big thing here isforgiving and how to walk with a
brother that changed his lifeand you know he did a lot of
wrong and show love.
Speaker 1 (19:15):
in that you wronged, I got to learn to love.
I got to learn to forgive.
I got to learn to love.
Speaker 2 (19:20):
Yeah, and to go go to bat for your brother.
Like I know he screwed up backhere, but I know who he is today
.
Speaker 1 (19:28):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (19:29):
I know he's a Christ follower and I know he's not
going to do that again.
Speaker 1 (19:33):
I think, probably just in my own life, just
thinking about it, how manythere's been several times where
I wish I would have had a Paulin a moment to say, hey, I know
Nick's done wrong here, but hehas changed.
He does do things differentlyand a lot of times we don't have
that person Obviously.
I don't think any of us havethat.
What Paul's doing here.
(19:53):
Very few of us have that.
Speaker 2 (19:56):
I'm going to forgive.
Speaker 1 (19:58):
I'm going to pay off his debts, whatever kind of
debts those are, whethermonetary or you know whatever
they are, but that this guybecame a Christ follower.
And I don't think in our ownjourney following Christ, we're
going to get this.
It's not going to be easy.
We're not going to get the hey,I came to Christ.
(20:19):
I met this pastor who I'mstudying under and all of a
sudden now life is good, mydebts are cleared, I'm being
freed.
That doesn't happen to most ofus.
Speaker 2 (20:32):
Right.
Speaker 1 (20:33):
There are consequences to our sin, which
there was for him too, but ourjourney is going to be hard.
Speaker 2 (20:40):
Now, by no means does any of this point to something
that's going to be easy for him,like he's going back to
something that he tried to runfrom.
Speaker 1 (20:48):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (20:49):
And my guess is he's going to have to do some of the
same work, but he's also goingto help preach the good news and
spread the good news out of ahome church, as Paul described.
That is doing great workalready.
Yeah, I man, which also makesyou think like he had to have
heard the gospel already.
(21:10):
So the seed was maybe plantedand then confirmed when he was
in jail with Paul.
Speaker 1 (21:16):
Yeah, that's true.
I just thoughts keep talking,popping in my mind that the map
idea, how this was so far of adistance to travel.
I Think there was a lot offaith in this too.
For onusmas to say, okay, I'mgonna trust that I'm doing the
right thing and that God's gonnaprovide for me, because there
was a lot of time and ocean.
(21:38):
It's gonna be in a Jonahsituation.
He could have got halfwaythrough and said, nah, ain't
happening.
I've decided it's not worth it.
Yeah, potential of this goingwrong is not worth it.
I'm out of here.
Speaker 2 (21:51):
Well, I think the the other thing I heard in regards
to that Um, he could have beencaptured by another slave owner
and that slave owner could havekept him.
Speaker 1 (22:01):
That's true too, and he would have been right back to
being a slave.
Speaker 2 (22:04):
He would have been right back to being a slave
under somebody else.
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (22:07):
I think there's a lot of faith on an onusmas is Part
two, because a lot of thingscould go wrong.
The letter could get lost.
Speaker 2 (22:16):
At sea, you know.
I mean like and then he's theyhad more accurate mail back then
, oh, they did, yeah, theydidn't have the USPS.
Modern day mail is not so good.
Speaker 1 (22:26):
Oh, that's funny finishing up here.
Verse 23, epaphores my fellowprisoner in Christ Jesus, sends
greetings to you, and so do Mark, artificious, dap, demis and
Luke, my fellow workers.
The grace of the Lord Christ bewith you in spirit.
(22:46):
There you go in verse 24.
It does say mark.
I Can not confirm but I'mpretty sure that that is mark,
the gospel of mark, who spent alot of time with Paul Writing
and helping write Paul.
I have done some research andsome people think that mark, the
gospel of mark, is pinned bymark, but it was Paul's Talking
(23:11):
through it, saying through it.
So All those guys are sittingin prayer in prison with them
and he's saying, hey, these guyssend their greetings, which you
know, paul's.
That guy that sat in prison andSang was happy in his
imprisonment.
I don't think I could be thesame way.
It's hard to see my faith bethat strong to say, no matter
(23:31):
what the situation is, I'm gonna, we're gonna be happy, we're
gonna praise God for oursuffering.
These guys are with me, we'reexcited to get out and come to
you To make sure that you didwhat you said you, what I told
you to do, what I pleaded youright and we're gonna do our end
the bargain to make it up.
Speaker 2 (23:48):
Yeah, I love it.
What a great little book.
That is great.
What 25 25 verses there that Ithink speak a lot to how we
should live as Christians andhow we should treat one another,
perhaps how we shouldn't putourselves on a pedestal.
We're all Christ followers andon the same level, so I think
(24:12):
this week that's a that's a goodreflection point.
Um, who are you walking with?
Who can you go to bat for?
Who maybe needs you to go tobat for them?
Oh, that's good, and Just justtake a moment and reflect on on
those things.
And and maybe there's evensomebody in your past that you
need to Go back to and say hey,man, I really wronged you here.
(24:34):
Let me, let me pay my debt backto you.
That's the challenge for thisweek to fish community.
We greatly appreciate you andwe'll see you in a couple weeks.
You.
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