A Concern for the Lord (Philemon 4:5a)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 6/30/2017 7:09 PM

My Worship Time                                                                          Focus:  A Concern for the Lord

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                 Reference:  Philemon 4-5a

            Message of the verses:  “I thank my God always, making mention of you in my prayers, because I hear of…the faith which you have toward the Lord Jesus,”

            As we look at this verse and a half we see that Paul is praising Philemon, but this happens in many of his letters and it is not that he is trying to flatter him, rather Paul knew that legitimate praise feeds virtue and also provides a solution for sin.  MacArthur adds “The honorable character of Philemon becomes the foundation upon which Paul bases his appeal for him to forgive Onesimus.”

            Paul was the one who led Philemon to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ, and so he knew about his character first hand.  When we studied Colossians we found out that the pastor of the Colossian church came to see Paul in order to tell him about the troubles that were going on there and so Paul would have had time to talk to him about Philemon and Paul would not have given Philemon praise if he did not deserve it.  Paul continues to praise Philemon as he writes “I thank my God always, making mention of you in my prayers.”  Once again this is typical of most of Paul’s letters as Paul begins most of his letters by praying for the one or ones he is writing to and then near the end of his letter he will ask them to pray for some specific needs that he has.  As we look at Paul praying for Philemon we see that when he did this that he knew nothing negative against Philemon and was then able to pray in this way for him.  As we go through the book of Philemon we will see that this is true, nothing negative is written about to him.

            MacArthur writes “The first characteristic of one who forgives is a concern for the Lord.  Paul had heard of ‘the faith which’ Philemon had ‘toward the Lord Jesus.’  As a genuine believer, Philemon was concerned about the Lord and desired to please Him.  Because the Lord had forgiven him Philemon could forgive others.  Conviction from the indwelling Holy Spirit and from the Word of God would also provide the impetus for Philemon to do what was right.  The present tense of echo (‘you have’) demonstrates the continuous nature of Philemon’s concern for the Lord.  His unwavering faith gave Paul confidence in his willingness to forgive.

            “Christians forgive because they are reconciled to Jesus Christ.  Unbelievers do not have that capacity.  Paul points that out in Romans 3:10-16:

‘10  as it is written, "THERE IS NONE RIGHTEOUS, NOT EVEN ONE; 11  THERE IS NONE WHO UNDERSTANDS, THERE IS NONE WHO SEEKS FOR GOD; 12  ALL HAVE TURNED ASIDE, TOGETHER THEY HAVE BECOME USELESS; THERE IS NONE WHO DOES GOOD, THERE IS NOT EVEN ONE." 13 “THEIR THROAT IS AN OPEN GRAVE, WITH THEIR TONGUES THEY KEEP DECEIVING," "THE POISON OF ASPS IS UNDER THEIR LIPS"; 14 “WHOSE MOUTH IS FULL OF CURSING AND BITTERNESS"; 15 “THEIR FEET ARE SWIFT TO SHED BLOOD, 16 DESTRUCTION AND MISERY ARE IN THEIR PATHS.’”

“Those Controlled by bitterness will find it difficult to forgive.”

6/30/2017 7:28 PM