A Pastoral Visit
(No. 3103)
A SERMON PUBLISHED ON THURSDAY, JULY 30, 1908.
DELIVERED BY C. H. SPURGEON,
AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON.
"The Church in your house." Philemon 1:2.
SOME interpreters have supposed that a small congregation met for
worship in a room in Philemon's house and there is a tradition that
such was the case for some considerable time. The Churches established
by Paul were, at their commencement, for the most part small.
Obliged–for the sake of peace and to avoid persecution–to meet in out
of-the-way places where they were not likely to be seen by foes, the
retired house of some well-known friend, perhaps that of the minister,
if it had a room conveniently large, would be the natural place for
Believers to gather together in those early Churches. Philemon,
therefore, might literally have had a Church in his house and a
congregation might have gathered there. It strikes me that there would
be a great deal of good done if persons who have large rooms in their
houses would endeavor to get together little congregations. There are
many, even of our poorer friends, who live in neighborhoods of London
destitute of the means of Grace, who might promote a great blessing if
they occasionally opened their houses for a Prayer Meeting or religious
assembly. We need no consecrated places for the worship of God–
"Wherever we seek Him, He is found, And everyplace is hallowed ground."
Certainly our text does not give any countenance to the calling of
certain buildings "Churches." Buildings for worship, whether erected by
Episcopalians or Dissenters, are frequently called "Churches." If I ask
for "the church" in any town, I am forthwith directed to an edifice,
probably with a spire or a steeple, which the inhabitants call "the
church." Why, they might as well point me to a signpost when I asked
for a man–a building cannot be a Church! A Church is an assembly of
faithful men and it cannot be anything else. I cannot see how such a
piece of architecture as we now call "a church" could very well have
been in Philemon's house–it must have been a large house if it had
such a thing in it for an ornament. The fact is, it is a misnomer, a
misuse of language, and we must mind that we do not get into it. For my
own part, I like the good old-fashioned name of "Meeting House" as well
as any. It is a place where the people of God meet and although
"Meeting House" does not sound very smart, nor fine, nor
fashionable–and that is everything, nowadays, with many people–yet it
is far better than misusing language as it is misused when bricks,
stones and mortar receive a tittle belonging exclusively to godly men
and women!
However, it appears that Philemon had a Church in his house–a Church
largely, if not exclusively, composed of his own family. He was
privileged to possess a godly wife–the beloved Apphia–their sons and
daughters walked in their parents' footsteps. And their servants and
even their visitor, Archippus, were members of this Church which was in
the house of Philemon.
I. Now let me attempt to describe A CHURCH IN A HOUSE, meaning, all the
while, to be asking you WHETHER YOU HAVE A CHURCH IN YOUR HOUSE.
A Church, according to the New Testament, consists of converted
persons, or persons who profess to be converted. No visible Church is
absolutely pure. A Church must be taken upon its own profession,
consisting as it does of persons who avow themselves to be followers of
and Believers in Christ, having been converted from darkness to light
by the Spirit of God. Well, then, I see, in a family where there is a
Church, a godly father and a godly mother rejoicing over converted sons
and daughters–and glad and able to entrust their household affairs to
Christian servants. It cannot be a Church, whatever profession may be
made, unless there is the Grace of God there. It may be nominally such,
but it cannot be really so. A family is not born a Church and the
little ones born into the family are not born into the Church. They
must be born-again before they can be members of the Church–there must
have been the work of the Spirit of God in the hearts of the members of
the family before they can form a Church in the house.
But it strikes me that a number of converted people are not necessarily
a Church. In order to form a Church, they must worship together. Happy
is the household which meets every morning for prayer! Happy are they
who let not the evening depart without uniting in supplication!
Brothers and Sisters, I wish it were more common–I wish it were
universal, with all professors of religion–to have family prayer! We
sometimes hear of the children of Christian parents who do not grow up
in the fear of God and we are asked how it is that they turn out so
badly. In many, very many cases, I fear there is such a neglect of
family worship that it is not probable that the children are at all
impressed by any piety supposed to be possessed by their parents!
Family prayer in our old Puritan households was a matter of very great
importance. Let me tell you what Philip Henry used to do. He was a
minister and of course had more time to give to it than many of you in
business have. But he went through the whole Bible in course,
expounding it, chapter by chapter, and accompanying it by prayer and
singing. One reason he gave for singing was that it was like Rahab's
tying the crimson line in the window–everyone who went by would know
what she had done–and he said that the sound of singing at family
prayers was a distinct confession that that family loved and worshipped
God! He called his children together on Thursdays and catechized them
upon the General Assembly's Catechism and upon the lessons through
which they had gone during the week.
Perhaps you will think that this was very dreary work, but what will
you say when I tell you that that good man's son, Mr. Matthew Henry,
wrote his famous Commentaryfrom the notes which he took of his father's
expositions at morning and evening prayers? Young lads do not take
notes of dreary things, you may depend upon it! Catch them at that, if
you can. We do not find our boys taking down heavy sermons, but they
have no objection to putting down anything which strikes and interests
them. That family of Mr. Henry, to which I have referred, was so well
ordered that very often visitors to the house who were unconverted when
they went there, were converted during their visit! Now I do not
suppose that you could, all of you, expound the Scriptures like that!
And you could not all, perhaps, sing. But I do think we might, all of
us, manage to come together once a day at least–twice, if
possible–for the worship of God in the household. Remember what
Matthew Henry says–"They who pray in the family, do well. They who
read and pray, do better. But they who sing, and read, and pray, do
best of all." If we want to bring up a godly family who shall be a seed
to serve God when our heads are under the clods of the valley, let us
seek to train them up in the fear of God by meeting together as a
family for worship. I do not see how there can be a Church without
worship–and I do not see how there can be a Church in a house unless
there is constant worship in the family.
But there must be something more than this before there can be a
Church. A Church is not merely a company of people meeting for
worship–there must be some bond of unity. A load of bricks is not a
house–the bricks must be fitly framed and cemented together–and then
they grow into a house. So a Church is fitly framed together and grows
into a holy temple for the Lord. Now, dear Friends, there must be a
knitting of hearts among Christians in families. Of course, they will
love each other from the ties of the flesh, but they should also love
each other from the higher ties of the Spirit. There is no reason why,
without breaking through any of the gradations that must necessarily
exist in society, there should not be a bond of unity taking in the
whole family–master, mistress, children and servants. In the olden
times, in the days of such men as Abraham, the servants were a part of
the family. Nowadays, people change their servants once a month and
there are some servants who stay too long even then! But it strikes me
that good masters and good mistresses make good servants–and where
love and kindness are shown, it will not always, nor often, be the case
that the servants will be a social evil. Instead of that, they will be
a great benefit. And a wise, prudent, Christian servant becomes as much
a part of the household as even a child. To make a Church, there must
be a feeling of union. I should like to see the clan-feeling in our
families in which every servant would stand up for the master's honor,
and everyone would seek the good of the entire family–and even when
the children were grown up and scattered, it would be well to see them
still duly respecting the ties of Christian kindred and seeking to
promote the good and the unity of the whole.
And to make a Church, there must be oversight. A Church is not a
complete Church without a pastor, its elders and its deacons. A Church
in the house will have its elders. There need not be any election of
these because they are already elected. The parents will naturally take
the oversight of the little Church that is in the house. If you want a
pastor, the father should be the priest in his own house. He is the
most fitting teacher, expounder and example. Then who are to be
your deacons? Why, those who have to go out to the factory, when the
bell rings in the morning, and who help to provide food for the
household! And there is another we must not forget–that gentle one who
goes so noiselessly about the house to see after her husband and
children, and who produces a thousand happy thoughts by that kind way
of hers. Sometimes the oversight of the household will fall to the lot
of the eldest son, or daughter, but sometimes some long-abiding
servant, some old housekeeper virtually becomes the presiding genius.
There must be oversight and God sometimes graciously sends to families
those who are more advanced in spiritual things who become, as it were,
the officers of the Church in the house.
A Church in the house must, of course, be furnished with instruction.
One of the first reasons why there is a Church at all is to teach the
members. We are formed into Churches for mutual edification. Ah, dear
Friends, how much youthful piety receives edification in those
households where the parents set a godly example! Wonderful is the
influence of the mother upon her son. You recollect the case of the
mighty Byron, who seems to have been a sort of fallen angel who flew
across the sky like a thunderbolt from a Satanic hand. What was his
mother? Why, a very passionate woman who frequently threw the tongs at
her own son in her passion! Of course she had a wild and passionate
son. Look, on the other hand, at the meek and gentle bard of Olney,
pouring forth notes that were almost fit for Heaven. What sort of
mother had Cowper? You know her character well, as her son has
described it in the lines beginning–
"Oh, that those lips had language!" Let Christian parents, forming a
Church in their house, look to the formation of the character of their
children, especially their converted children–and let them not
overlook their converted servants! With an ardent and a longing desire,
strive to build them up in the faith and help them to grow in Divine
Grace and in the knowledge of the Lord. You Christian fathers ought to
take care, as far as your means allow, to provide your children with
instructive books. I do not mean dull books, but good, interesting
books, at once instructive and attractive, that may teach them the way
of God more perfectly. Whenever you have the opportunity, let drop a
word which will strike the child's attention and remain in its heart.
Just as I, as a preacher, would never miss an opportunity of saying
anything here which I met with in the week, and which I thought you
ought to hear, so let the Christian father be studying each day how he
may instruct the Church in his house in the fear of the Lord more
perfectly!
I think I have now described the Church so far as its organization is
concerned, but I cannot very well describe it all. You must go and live
in the midst of such a Church to understand thoroughly what it is like.
Mr. Talkative, in "The Pilgrim's Progress," was a very fine fellow
abroad and had a great deal to say about religion. But what was he at
home? Ah, nothing could be said of him there worth the hearing! Where
there is a Church in the house, every member strives to increase the
other's comfort, all seek to promote each other's holiness, each one
endeavors to discharge his duty according to the position in which he
is placed in that Church. And when they meet together, their prayers
are earnest and fervent, and all their actions are not the actions of a
worldly family, but of those who have tasted that the Lord is gracious!
One thing more. A Church is really worth nothing at all if it does not
try to extend itself And a Church in a house is no true Church if it is
satisfied without endeavoring to bring in every member of the family.
If you have half a dozen converted, but there are seven of you, never
leave off praying till you have the seventh! And if, in God's mercy, He
has given you ten out of eleven, there are ten reasons why you should
be in earnest for the conversion of the eleventh. Plead with the Master
till your little Church shall have swallowed up the whole of your
congregation! A happy day will it be for us when the Church in the
Tabernacle fills every pew, but you may come at your results sooner
than we can come at ours. May the day soon come when the Church in your
house shall include every person in the family, not one being left out!
What a happy world it would be if there were such a Church in every
house! It would be Heaven begun below! The angels might then mistake
earth for Heaven and linger so long that they would need to be recalled
to Paradise, making the mistake that they were already in Paradise! Oh,
may we live to see the day when walking down a street in London, we
shall hear, at the appointed hour in every house, the song of praise
and know that no door will be locked for the night till first the Lord
has been asked to keep watch and ward over the slumbering household!
II. Having thus described a Church in a house, I propose what I cannot
often accomplish among you, though I wish I could, and that is TO PAY
YOU A PASTORAL VISIT.
I am going to knock at your door, take a chair and sit down, and ask
you a few simple questions. The first is, Have you a Church in your
house? "No," says one, "I am the only converted one in the house." Ah,
dear Friend, I can understand the difficulty of your position, but I
can also rejoice in the hopefulness of your being there, trusting that
it is a token for good to the house! Now that the Lord has sent one
spark of fire there, may there soon be a flame! "Well," says another,
"we have several Christians in our house, but I cannot say that there
is a Church here." I like your honesty, my Friend, but may I tell you
what I suspect is the reason why there are so many houses that have
Christians in them, but no Churches? It often is because those
Christians are inconsistent. Why, if some of you were not professors of
religion, you would be very decent sort of people–but being
professors, the way in which you act and speak is detestable! You may
think this strong language, but I know it is true. There are some
families where the father, instead of exhibiting the gentleness and
kindness of a Christian, well-near scares the children from the very
thought of godliness! There are some households where the wife is a
gadding busybody, whose slovenliness and dirt might well disgust her
husband at the very thought of going to the House of Prayer. There are
some children professing godliness who have not yet learned the
Commandment which tells them to obey their parents! And there are some
professedly Christian servants who are eye-servers, not remembering
what Paul has said to such. One of the worst evils we have to deal
with, as Christians, is the evil of inconsistency at home! Whenever I
see a professed Christian walking among his household as though he were
a tyrant, letting no one come near him, without affection or kindness
and simply a domineering master, I ask–Where is the Grace of God in
that man? And I ask the same question with respect to other faults. O
Beloved, do make your households happy! You cannot make them holy if
you do not shine with genial cheerfulness. And you Christian people in
households, do seek to act so that you may not be a disgrace to your
profession, but may form a true Church in the house where you dwell
together.
While I thus speak, perhaps you will say that I am exposing too much of
that domestic economy over which you judge it convenient to drop a
veil. It is my duty to tell you the truth plainly, so listen to it
attentively. "Well," someone says, "I thank God that I have a Church in
my house." Then I thank God, too, and we will together praise and bless
Him for His great mercy. But I must now ask you, Who are the members?'
'Well, there is Father." Oh, I am so glad, because your father has so
much to do with the management and if he who holds the reins cannot
drive, there will be some mistakes. I am glad your father is converted.
"Ah!" says one, "but my father is not converted." Then, I am sorry. O
Father, I beseech you, let your child's prayer come into your ears as
well as into God's ears! You will be a curse to your family if you are
not a blessing! And I know you do not want to be a bane to your
offspring. But with some of you, the father is converted and the mother
is converted, too. I am glad of that, because parents–and mothers in
particular– have a sweet influence on the family and the little ones.
Well, then, let us see. Is John converted? Is the eldest son yet made a
partaker of Divine Grace? "Yes." Oh, then that is a mercy, because
elder brothers have so much to do, by their example, in inclining
younger brothers rightly or wrongly. And Emily–is she converted? That
is a happy thing, if it is so, for she, also, will have a great
influence for good upon the younger ones. Now where does it stop? I
hope it does not stop at the servants–are they converted? Happy is the
master who has Christian servants! And I speak experimentally when I
say this. It is a great comfort to you to have those about you who
really do fear God.
Yes, but we must not forget any who are in the household. I must ask
you, Who are they who are not converted?The very little ones, of
course, are too young to understand, so we will leave them in the hands
of a Covenant God and plead with Him for them. But are there not some
who can understand, but who are not yet converted? "Ah," says the
mother, "do not ask me about that," and she brushes away a tear. And
the father says, "It is a painful subject." Yes, it is a painful
subject, but we must mention it, because some of them are here tonight.
You would not willfully give your parents pain, young man, would you? I
know your desire is to comfort them and there can be no greater joy to
them than to know that their children are walking in the Truth of God.
And among the servants, there is the nursemaid–is she brought in? And
there is the kitchen-boy–do not leave him out! A Church in a house is
not complete till it comprises everybody in the house, from the
dishwasher up to the master. Yes, and if there is a friend staying
there, the Church is not complete till the friend is also converted.
Now, I cannot expect you all to answer me, but I still hope that you
will do it quietly to yourselves. How many members are there in the
Church in your house? Who are members and who are not?
Then, by your leave, I shall ask you another question, and that is, As
you have a Church consisting of so many members, what are you doing for
Christ?It is no use having a Church that is not doing anything. As a
family, are you
seeking to extend the bounds of Messiah's Kingdom within your own
sphere? Dr. Guthrie advocates Territorial Missions and a very admirable
scheme it is to advocate. And I give him all honor for it, but I will
tonight take the liberty of advocating Home Missions. I do not mean
missions that have to do with anything outside, but missions to the
kitchen, the parlor, the drawing-room and every room up to the
attic–missions in which every single one in the family shall be
concerned. I hope that, as a Church in the house, you will not have a
neglected district in the house. Some of you go out
tract-distributing–begin at home! Some of you preach–begin to preach
at home. Hard work that, because those to whom you preach know how you
practice! If you cannot preach at home because your practice runs
counter to your preaching, do not preach at all–for a man has no right
to talk and instruct others it he cannot, at least in some measure,
live out what he teaches!
III. Before leaving, however, I venture to GIVE A LITTLE ADVICE AS TO
THE WAY OF HAVING A CHURCH
IN A HOUSE.
It must be brought about, of course, by Divine Grace. The Holy Spirit
is the great Agent, but still He uses means. You young woman–yes,
you–you are thinking about being engaged to that young man. You are a
professed Christian, but he is a worldling. Now, do you ever expect to
have a Church in your house at that rate? And may I ask you–do you
know what you are doing? I see some of you are smiling. Well, you may
smile as much as you can now, for you will never have much smiling
after, I can tell you that! If you want to wither your happiness
forever, you have only to go and be yoked with an unbeliever. I have
known some Christian women who have forgotten the Divine precept and
have been married to ungodly men. And I have seen godly men married to
ungodly women. And mark this–my experience has not been very long, but
it has been very wide–I never knew any good come of it. I have always
seen misery as the result and in nine cases out of ten, backsliding has
followed–often final, too–proving that the person committing that sin
had no Grace at all! We do not often talk about these things when we
are preaching, but we ought to talk about them a great deal more than
we do. I do beseech you, young Christian people, if you hope to have
God's blessing, take care that you do not get "unequally yoked with
unbelievers."
Then, supposing the house is already started, I have this advice to
give. If you want to bring in others of the family who are not
converted, make them happy. There are a great many more flies caught
with honey than with vinegar, and there are a great many more persons
brought to God by love than there are by pitiless declamations. "The
love of Christ constrains," not only after we are saved, but it is
often the constraining means of bringing us to be saved. Let us imitate
Puritan theology in its soundness and Puritan living in its holiness,
but not in its gloom–if, indeed, it was gloomy, which I very much
question. Let the Christian family be the most cheerful household
anywhere! And if I might venture on the advice, let me say, never make
Sunday doleful and sad. Some people do. Why, I think Sunday should be
to the household the bright day of the week–the day when the father is
at home–the day when the mother is not at work– the day when John
comes home to spend a few hours–the day when they all go to the House
of God and sing–
"I have been there, and still would go 'Tis like a little Heaven
below." Oh, make your households to be like flower gardens–plant no
thorns and root out all ill weeds of discontent! Depend upon it,
household happiness is a great means of promoting household holiness!
And let me entreat you, dear Friends, to be much in prayer for those
who are not converted.' 'Yes," says the mother, "my unconverted boy is
gone away from home." Well, but your prayers can follow him! See the
case of Philemon and
Onesimus. [See Sermon #1268, Volume 21–THE STORY OF A RUNAWAY SLAVE]
Onesimus had run away with some of his master's money, but his master
sent his prayers after him and, by-and-by, there came a sheriff's
officer to arrest him–not one of Caesar's officers, but one of God's.
It was the Apostle Paul who, in the preaching of the Word of God,
arrested the runaway servant and he went back to his master saved! How
do you know but that your son will come home converted? How do you
know, Mother, but that you will yet see your daughter rejoicing in
Christ? Never cease praying for them till the breath is out of their
bodies, but continue in supplication till they are brought into the
Church in your house!
But O you Christians who wish to make a Church in your house, do not
let your own inconsistencies mar any good work in others! Above all, do
not have any disagreements among yourselves. Talk not in such a way
that good impressions, once happily made, become wretchedly marred. I
have heard of a wife walking home with her husband from
a place of worship. He was an ungodly man. She had often prayed for him
and he went with her to hear the sermon. She had been praying that he
might be blessed and yet, in walking home, she was foolish enough to
begin criticizing the sermon. She asked him how he liked it and he made
no answer. She began pulling it to pieces, till at last he stopped her
and said, "My dear wife, you have often prayed to God that I might be
blessed. God has blessed that sermon to me this morning and I cannot
bear to hear you speak of it as you have been speaking." I know this is
a fault with many Christians–not that we ministers care at all what
you say about us, except for the evil you often do in spoiling to
others that which does not happen to suit your fastidious taste, for
you may in that way be doing the devil's work. IV. The last thing I
want to say to you is this. LOOK ONWARDS A MINUTE.
When Halyburton lay a-dying, he said, among other joyous expressions,
"I bless God that I have a father in Heaven! I bless God that I have a
mother in Heaven! I bless God that I have ten brothers and sisters in
Heaven! I am the last of the family and I shall be in Heaven within an
hour!" This was a glorious thought! What a happy meeting theirs would
be! Spirits "are neither married nor given in marriage," nor are social
ties respected there, but still, I cannot conceive of Halyburton's
family but as making up a constellation like the Pleiades, all meekly
and gently shining together to the praise of God!
I saw in a house, the other day, a very singular picture of the
Resurrection. It was supposed to represent the resurrection of a
Christian family. The artist was not very imaginative, but still he had
done it pretty well. The big stone that covered the tomb was just
broken in halves and you saw coming up at the top some of the little
ones, those latest buried. There were three or four of them stretching
their wings upwards. Of course, this represented as much the
resurrection of the soul as of the body in the artist's mind, it was
rather a complicated metaphor. Then there were the father and mother,
and a number of grandchildren–and I was glad to see that there were
the grandfather and grandmother, both coming up from one tomb, and
going up together to the Throne of God. I only hope that, though some
of us may be buried in distant lands and–
"Our graves are scattered far and wide, By fount, and stream, and
sea"– yet, practically, we may rise together when the last trumpet
sounds, an unbroken family!
I may be excused, perhaps, for referring to God's singular mercy to my
own household. What a blessing it is to my father and mother now that
they can rejoice in six of their children walking in the Truth of God
who have given themselves up to the Lord Jesus! The Lord has been
graciously pleased to bring them in, one by one, and all who have now
reached years of discretion, so as to be able to understand the Gospel,
have believed in Jesus Christ! And in generations that have gone by, my
grandfather could say the same, and his father could say the same of
his house! We have been a race of those whom God has blessed. May it be
your privilege, also, beloved members of this Church! I cannot wish you
a greater blessing. If I knew how to bestow the greatest blessing upon
you, I think my knowledge would not amount to more than this, that,
being yourselves saved, you might have all your families walking in the
Truth of God and, speaking after the manner of men, why should it not
be the case with you? Prayer, earnest and mighty prayer, gets no denial
from the Throne of God!–
"Faith, mighty faith, the promise sees," and claims its fulfillment,
"for the promise is unto you and to your children, and to all that are
afar off, even to as many as the Lord our God shall call." God's
eternal purpose stands fast and fixed, we know, but when He moves His
people's hearts to pray, He intends to bless. We will be more earnest
in praying for one another than we have been. We will be more earnest
in praying about our children than we have been. And may God grant us
Grace so that we may, all of us, be able to say that we have a Church
in our house! "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ"–this is the
foundation of the Church and they who have believed are members of
Christ's Church and so see His face in the midst of the one family in
Heaven and earth, which is named by Him as "the general assembly and
Church of the first-born, which are written in Heaven." God grant that,
of this Church, both we and ours may all be members!
EXPOSITION BY C. H. SPURGEON: PHILEMON.
Verse 1. Paul, a prisoner of Jesus Christ This is one of Paul's private
letters, though it has the stamp of Inspiration upon it. It was not
written concerning Church business, nor to teach some great doctrinal
Truth of God, but there was a runaway slave who had come to Rome and
who had been converted under Paul's ministry. Paul was sending him back
to his master–and this was the letter which he was to take with him,
to make some sort of apology for him and to ask his master to receive
him with kindness and to forgive his fault. Every word of this Epistle
is very wisely put. Paul begins by calling himself "a prisoner of Jesus
Christ." Who would not grant him his desire when he was wearing a chain
for Christ's sake? If a letter were to come to you from some beloved
minister whom you knew to be lying in a dungeon and likely soon to die,
you would be greatly touched if you noticed the traces of the rust of
his chains on the letter. "Paul, a prisoner of Jesus Christ."
I, 2. And Timothy our brother, unto Philemon our dearly beloved, and
fellow laborer, and to our beloved Apphia, and Archippus our fellow
soldier, and to the Church in your house. He joins Timothy with himself
to give double weight to the message. Probably Timothy was well known
to Philemon and much respected by him, so he puts Timothy's name that
there might be two to plead with him. Then, notice the loving titles
with which Paul addresses Philemon–"our dearly beloved, and fellow
laborer." Probably the person whom Paul called, "beloved Apphia" was
Philemon's wife, so he writes to her, also, for perhaps the wife was
the more tender-hearted of the two, so she might put in a good word for
Onesimus–and her husband would all the more readily grant Paul's
request. He also mentions Archippus, who was either the pastor of the
Church at Colosse, or an Evangelist who stayed occasionally at the
house of Philemon. So he mentions him with all the rest of the
household who met there for worship and so made up the Church in the
house.
3-7. Grace to you, and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus
Christ I thank my God, making mention of you always in my prayers,
hearing of your love and faith which you have toward the Lord Jesus,
and toward all saints; that the communication of your faith may become
effectual by the acknowledging of every good thing which is in you in
Christ Jesus. For we have great joy and consolation in your love
because the hearts of the saints are refreshed by you, Brother.Paul
recalls how much Philemon had done in the comforting of persecuted and
poor saints. And when you are about to ask a favor of anyone, it is
well to show your gratitude for what you or others have already
received from him.
8, 9. Therefore though I might be much bold in Christ to enjoin you
that which is convenient, yet for love's sake I rather beseech you,
being such an one as Paul the aged, and now, also, a prisoner of Jesus
Christ. He says in effect, "I am an Apostle and I am your spiritual
father, so I might have spoken with authority to you and have said, 'It
is your duty to do this.' But I am not going to do anything of the
kind. I am going to plead with you and beseech it of you as a kindness
and a favor. Pay a loving tribute to my old age and, besides that, I am
a prisoner shut up in the dungeon for Christ's sake–hear the clanking
of my chains, and grant my request for love's sake.'"
10. I beseech you for my son Onesimus, whom I have begotten in my
bonds. "He came to hear me preach in the prison. He has been listening
to me while I am still a captive and he has been given to me, as
another son in the Gospel, to be a comfort to me in my bonds. I beseech
you for him."
II, 12. Which in timepast was to you unprofitable, but now profitable
to you and to me: whom Ihave sent again. "He was your slave, and
therefore I have sent him back to you."
12. You therefore receive him, that is, my own heart. "Look upon him as
though he were my very heart and receive him as you would receive me if
I could go to you."
13, 14. Whom I wouldhave retained with me, that in yourplace he might
have ministered unto me in the bonds of the Gospel: but without your
permission would I do nothing; that your benefit should not be as it
were of necessity, but willingly."I would have kept him," says Paul,
"for I need someone to be my companion, to comfort me in my distress.
But I would not do it without asking your permission, lest I should
seem to take advantage of you. Though I know that you would willingly
consent to it, yet, nevertheless, that it might be perfectly voluntary
on your part, I have sent him back to you, that you may do as you will
with him."
15-17. For perhaps he therefore departed for a season, that you should
receive him forever; not now as a servant, but above a servant, a
beloved Brother, especially to me, but how much more unto you, both in
the flesh, and in the Lord? If you count me therefore a partner. "If
you have true fellowship and communion with me"–
17. Receive him as myself How beautifully this is put all through! It
very much reminds me of our Lord Jesus Christ, who seems to say to the
Divine Father, "This poor child is in fellowship with Me. Receive him,
therefore, as Myself." And this is just what God does in the case of
repenting and believing sinners–He receives them just as if He could
see Christ in them.
18. If he has wronged you, or owes you anything, put that on my account
How generously this is put by this poor prisoner at Rome and how
gloriously, in this, he is like our Master who stands as Surety for us!
19. I Paul, have written it with my own hand, I will repay it: albeit I
do not say to you how you owe unto me even your own self besides. Paul
had been the means of Philemon's conversion, so he was immeasurably in
debt to the Apostle. But Paul only gently reminds him of the fact as a
reason why he should deal kindly with Onesimus for his sake.
20. Yes, Brother, let me have joy of you in the Lord: refresh my heart
in the Lord. "You have refreshed others, then, surely, you will not now
let me be without refreshment! You have been very kind to all sorts of
saints, then you cannot be unkind to the man who is your own spiritual
father."
21. Having confidence in your obedience I wrote unto you, knowing that
you will do more than I say. This is delicately yet forcibly put, and
we feel certain that Philemon must have done as Paul wished, even
though we have no record of the fact.
22-25. But withal prepare me also a lodging: for I trust that through
your prayers I shall be given unto you. There salute you Epaphras, my
fellow prisoner in Christ Jesus; Marcus, Aristarchus, Demas, Lucas, my
fellow laborers. The Grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your
spirit. Amen.