Paul was in prison. His first Roman imprisonment, from 60-62 AD. Paul prayed, read, entertained guests (Epaphras, an elder from Colossae), advised the church in Rome, witnessed to every one of his guards, and wrote letters to the churches. We know of five of those letters, the NT contains copies of four of them: Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, and Philemon. (the letter to Laodiceans is mentioned in Col 4:15,16, but we don't have it in our NT). Bible teachers and preachers refer to these four letters as Paul's Prison Epistles.
We are going to spend three Lord's Days unpacking that fourth letter, the little epistle of Philemon. Let's read Paul's letter together (Philemon 1-25; today's focus is on vv.1-7).
Philemon was a probably a respected Christian business man, in the city of Colossae. He was well-known in the church for his godly character and good deeds. He opened the doors of his home to the church. He was even friends with the apostle Paul and Timothy!
Not that his life was care free – whose is? In fact, some months before he received Paul's letter, Philemon's slave, Onesimus, ran away! How disrespectful, how ungrateful, how disappointing! It was insulting! Wait till Philemon gets his hands on that guy! What do you suppose he'd do…? Roman law would let him do almost anything! But, we've just read what Paul wants Philemon to do: forgive Onesimus! That's a big ask!
So we soon see that the theme in Philemon is forgiving.
In this morning's text :
Paul's greeting prepares Philemon for a big favor (not to receive, but to do!). 1. A greeting that offers encouragement (1-3) 2. A prayer that praises and previews (4-7) |