Philemon Chapter One Vs: 4-9

Tuesday's Daily Word and Thought Journal (By: Yusun Beck)

Philemon Chapter One vs: 4-9

"I thank my God always, making mention of you in my prayer, because I hear of your love, and of the faith which you have toward the Lord Jesus, and toward all the saints; and I pray that the fellowship of your faith may become effective through the knowledge of every good thing which is in you for Christ's sake. For I have come to have much joy and comfort in your love, because the hearts of the saints have been refreshed through you, brother. Therefore, though I have enough confidence in Christ to order you to do that which is proper, yet for love's sake I rather appeal to you-since I am such a person as Paul, the aged, and now also a prisoner of Christ Jesus-" (Quoted from the New American Standard Translation Bible Phil 1:4-9)

And I am looking at the area of the Philemon Epistle explaining his love and faith. In this daily study, I will try not to reiterate what I said yesterday unless it unlocks something more. In this section, verses 4-9, Paul glorifies God by building up and encouraging Philemon, he explains a little about what he sees in him, and he starts preparing the plea or Godly request he is soon to speak about in the next section which is why Paul wrote Philemon in the first place. We can learn a lesson from how Paul begins his approach to his brother (Christian family).

First of all, Paul shows a thankful heart towards God and gives all of the glory of Philemon's personality of love to God in his first statement of encouragement to Philemon. He also says how he hears of the good qualities of his brother and how he wishes he could fellowship with him to show him the knowledge of the good things in him that Christ had blessed him with. It wasn't about Paul, Philemon, or the church for Paul was looking at bringing glory to God which Paul knew God would take care of everything if the focus was on Jesus Christ. It is evident in his wrapping of the encouragements with thank God, I pray, and Christ's sake. Perhaps, when we approach another brother in Christ, we can be encouraging to them, knowing who they are, and seeking to glorify God in our approach.

As a result of Paul's approach, the good qualities of Philemon that were from God are put in the light. Paul explains how he gains joy and comfort in his brother's love, that he earlier thanked God for and gave God credit for. He tells Philemon the results to other's in the large family (saints/church/body of Christ) for his love towards God and other's in the body explaining how refreshing his compassion has been. After glorifying God, encouraging, and looking for Philemon's godliness from Christ, Paul starts the rest of his approach to plea for Onesimus.

When he begins his plea, he explains that Christ would have him to do this. Paul explains that he has faith that God will appeal to Philemon and order him to do what he is about to ask in a gentle fashion. However, he also explains that he wishes to, out of love, approach him before God makes an order to Philemon. It is kind like me telling an airman about their uniform before the flight chief or their supervisor does. Paul shows compassion for both Philemon and Onesimus in his plea, and he wants Philemon to know that what he is about to ask is for the glory of God and the good of all. This was how Paul began his approach.

His approach was very gentle. He glorified God and encouraged his brother. He sought out the godliness in his brother compelling to the nature of Christ. This whole epistle was written in focus of Christ. Because it focused on Christ first, it was good for everyone involved. Also, the message was delivered with a gentle and loving wind. This would mean that we should learn a good lesson about how we should approach our brothers in Christ. This title in the bible states that it is about Philemon's faith and love, but I would like to look at it in a way to say that its true purpose to Philemon and the church is different. To Philemon, it was more so a directive stated in love before it had become an order from God, and to the church it was to serve as a demonstration of how we should approach our brothers with Godly pleas. We should approach with prayer that is focusing on Christ, a spirit to glorify God, confidence in Christ to reach the person's heart, showing love, and giving encouragement. Too many times do I see people being forceful or piling on guilt when a simple gentle word in the right perspective and focus would get the job done.