Phm 1:22 But, meanwhile, also prepare a guest room for me, for I trust that through your prayers I shall be granted to you.
Phm 1:23 Epaphras, my fellow prisoner in Christ Jesus, greets you,
Phm 1:24 as do Mark, Aristarchus, Demas, Luke, my fellow laborers.
Phm 1:25 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit. Amen.
Cafeterianity is dominating our Christian culture today. All the foods of faith are laid out by God in His Word for those who hunger and thirst after righteousness. But modern day believers are taking their personal Christianity as if it is some sanctified cafeteria with options galore. They choose to live their lives with the mistaken belief that Christians have the option to load up their plate with what works for them and pass on that which doesn’t suit their taste; they obey what they want and disregard the rest, and all the while thinking that God is somehow cool with all of that.
Jesus told His disciples, If you love Me, keep my commandments in John 14:15. He didn’t say keep a few or only those that appeal to your lifestyle. We show our love for God when we embrace all of His Word. Obedience to God’s Word is the indicator of how much we truly love Him. Obedience here does not have reference here to obeying in some legalistic manner but obeying in a spirit of agape love.
We obey Him, not because of the fear of reprisal, but because we simply are in love with Jesus, and we don’t want to do anything that would hurt Him, causing a break in our fellowship with Him because of sin. We must realize that God is holy; and holiness demands that sin be dealt with. This is why God sent His Son to the cross to address sin. This is why it is impossible to live in sin and remain in fellowship with God. His holiness cannot tolerate sin and rightly so! Cafeterianity is in direct conflict with God’s holiness. It is an affront to Him because it promotes ungodly, sinful behavior. People with this attitude are really saying, “I love you Jesus only when it appeals to me.” This is not agape love but the conditional love of the world. Fellowship demands an all-out all-of-the-Word attitude of obedience.
Disobedience to God, therefore, is indicative that we have a love problem. And if we have a love problem, sin is in the camp. Cafeterianity is not Christianity. To put it bluntly, it is satanic. Satan has put a bug in the ear of believers; Did God actually say (Gen 3:1, ESV)? It was the same old question directed at Eve in the Garden of Eden. People, attending church, claiming to be a Christian and loving Jesus, and knowing that they are living in sin, are deceived and are out of fellowship with God, or worst, they do not have a personal relationship with Him in regards to salvation.
We have gotten so far away from clear Bible teaching that “living in sin” has been redefined by an accepted New Age mentality. Why do you think fornication and adultery are acceptable to many church goers, because they believe sex to be natural? Everybody is doing it. It is “fashionable.” Doesn’t the Bible warn about the consequences of sexual impurity? Yes, but Cafeterianity doesn’t put that teaching on the plate.
Moral relativism is taking the place of the Bible in the minds of Christians today! No wonder God’s people that possess such a mindset have an unforgiving spirit in an age of graceless Christianity. Holding grudges and getting even are on par with worldly values. Forgiveness, however, is not one of those foods of faith items that we can put on our plate or pass it by. It’s like the vegetables your mama tried to get you to eat, it’s good for you. So we need to eat our vegetables, right? So let’s see what Paul has to say about putting forgiveness on our plate.
><>><>><>><>><>><>><>
We are winding up our study in Philemon, and verses 22-25 are the capstone on the subject of forgiveness. There are three final views or considerations Paul through the Holy Spirit wants to leave with Philemon and us on this matter of forgiveness.
1. Foresight, v. 22 (the future)
2. Hindsight, vv. 23-24 (the past)
3. Insight, v. 25 (the present)
Before regeneration we were spiritually blind (2 Cor 4:4). God opened our eyes to see the world around us as He sees it. When we look at the world through the lens of Scripture we gain a true perspective on the condition and conduct of the world. God has given to every believer an ability to exercise spiritual foresight, hindsight, and insight as we make our way in a world of spiritual darkness in order to walk circumspectly (Eph 5:15).
1. Foresight (the future), v. 22
Phm 1:22 But, meanwhile, also prepare a guest room for me, for I trust that through your prayers I shall be granted to you.
Foresight - “Seeing ahead; knowing in advance; foreseeing; looking forward; a view of the future.”
Someone said, “Hindsight explains the injury that foresight would have prevented.”
“Vengeance has no foresight.” Napoleon Bonaparte
But, meanwhile = but, at the same time. The spiritual warfare doesn’t stop because soldiers are wounded in battle. We tend to the needs of the wounded while the conflict rages on, field dressing in one hand and a sword in the other.
also prepare a guest room for me. Is this a follow up on spiritual obedience or what? Paul was coming to Colossae. Paul makes no bones about it. Philemon get your act together because I’m coming to check on you to see what you’ve done.
for I trust that through your prayers I shall be granted to you. How could Philemon pray for Paul’s release so that Paul could visit him and find he had not forgiven Philemon? Paul was an Apostle, and the man who won him to Christ. Philemon knew he was accountable to godly authority. Though God is Sovereign, Paul was relying on the effectual prayer of a righteous man such as Philemon to persuade the providential hand of God to bring Paul to Colossae. Paul knew God was all in this Onesimus affair; he suggested as much back in verse 15. Perhaps Onesimus ran away in order that he returns a Christian. Paul was banking on the prayer of Philemon to allow him to visit Colossae. So in effect Paul is saying to Philemon, “Get started praying for I am coming to see you!” This teaches us that prayer is not an act of futility. Prayer moves omnipotence. In light of this Philemon knew right well that he must forgive Onesimus; it’s called spiritual accountability, to God and to spiritual leaders who are over us.
Here is the foresight. Paul was a type of Christ in the book of Philemon. Paul was coming; Jesus is coming. When we see Jesus we will be judged according to our works done here on terra firma. Jesus will hold us spiritually accountable for everything we had ever said or done. Even in this matter of forgiveness. As Philemon knew he had to be prepared for Paul, we all must be prepared for the coming of Jesus Christ.
John said in 1 Jn 3:2-3, Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. And everyone who has this hope (seeing Christ and of being like Him) in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure.
This is the foresight, the view of the future; it will happen (cf. Jn 14:3). We should live clean and godly lives in the light of the return of Jesus Christ.
In the military when the troops were told that the commander was coming for an inspection, everything was made ready post haste. Everything was expected to be in place according to the expectations and standards of military regulations. Even minute details such as an Irish pennant were frowned upon. According to the Navy and Marine Corps, an Irish pennant was a loose thread on a uniform for which you were gigged during the inspection.
Jesus is coming to take us home; and then comes the inspection, front and center before the throne. Our life actions will be evaluated whether or not they were in conformity to God’s standard of holiness down to the minute details. Philemon needs to get his act together because Paul is coming; Jesus is coming we better get our act together. This foresight should encourage us to forgive another brother who has wronged us for Jesus will hold us personally accountable.
Theodore Roosevelt once said, “The one characteristic more essential than any other is foresight… It should be the growing nation with a future which takes the long look ahead.” Are we living a life looking ahead for the return of our Lord Jesus Christ?
2. Hindsight (the past), vv. 23-24
Phm 1:23 Epaphras, my fellow prisoner in Christ Jesus, greets you,
Phm 1:24 as do Mark, Aristarchus, Demas, Luke, my fellow laborers.
Hindsight: “Perception of the significance and nature of events after they have occurred. Understanding the nature of an event after it has happened.”
Someone said that “Hindsight is good for knowing where you have been.”
A mentor was defined as “Someone whose hindsight can become your foresight.”
Again, “Hindsight explains the injury that foresight would have prevented.”
Remember the old cliché, “Hindsight is always twenty-twenty?”
You have heard it said that "hindsight is always better than foresight." In light of the foresight we are talking about, we should always live in the light of His coming that will cover our hindsight.
These five men who send their greetings to Philemon in verses 23-24 are also mentioned in Colossians 4. Looking in Colossians 4 we will gain some insight into these men that Philemon knew. We will maintain the order in Philemon and pick them out in Colossians.
Epaphras (v. 23, fellow prisoner in Christ Jesus; Col 4:12, a bondservant [slave] of Christ)
Col 4:12 Epaphras, who is one of you, a bondservant of Christ, greets you, always laboring fervently for you in prayers, that you may stand perfect and complete in all the will of God.
Col 4:13 For I bear him witness that he has a great zeal for you, and those who are in Laodicea, and those in Hierapolis.
Col 1:7 as you also learned from Epaphras, our dear fellow servant, who is a faithful minister of Christ on your behalf,
Col 1:8 who also declared to us your love in the Spirit.
Epaphras probably owes his conversion to Paul during one of Epaphras’ visits to Ephesus. He left Colossae for Rome and willing shared in Paul’s imprisonment there. He is considered the founder of the church at Colossae (a city in Phrygia, in the Roman province of Asia, part of modern Turkey, about 100 miles East of Ephesus), and Laodicea and Hierapolis, the latter two located in the Lycus valley.
Epaphras was a godly man who loved the Lord and committed to His service, and he was energetic in serving and praying for others to be perfect and complete in all the will of God. Whether he was a captive in Rome with Paul or just a willing prisoner (Philemon 23) for Paul’s sake is not known. The fact was that he was there with Paul in Rome to help the man who led him to Christ and to promote the Gospel message. His deep concern for his people in Colossae (including Philemon), Laodicea, and Hierapolis indicated that he was a great and noble man of God who cared about God’s people.
Mark (v. 24, fellow laborer [in Christ Jesus]; Col 4:10) was a cousin to Barnabus. Peter went to the house of Mary, Mark’s mother after God released him from prison (Acts 12:12). Peter referred to Mark as “my son” in 1 Pet 5:14; Mark was Peter’s spiritual son. Mark was with Paul on the first missionary journey as an assistant (Acts 13:4). John Mark departed from Paul and Barnabus and returned to Jerusalem. Whatever the reason for Mark leaving them was unacceptable to Paul (Acts 15:38). Later when Paul wanted to visit the brothers in all the cities where Barnabus and he had preached, Barnabus wanted to take Mark along. There was a sharp dissension between Paul and Barnabus over Mark; so they split into two teams, Paul and Silas went one direction and Barnabus and Mark went another, both groups strengthening the churches. This rift was finally closed. At the end of his life Paul wrote to Timothy, Get Mark, and bring him with you, for he is useful to me for ministry (2 Tim 4:11; cf. Col 4:10). Mark is the author of the Gospel that bears his name. Forgiveness speaks volumes here.
Col 4:10, Mark the cousin of Barnabas (about whom you received instructions: if he comes to you, welcome him),
Aristarchus (v. 24, fellow laborer [in Christ Jesus]; Col 4:10, fellow prisoner) was a Macedonia of Thessalonica (Acts 27:2). Here in Philemon Paul refers to Aristarchus as a fellow worker but in Col 4:10 he is called a fellow prisoner. He accompanied Paul during his third missionary journey and was seized along with Gaius by rioters in the uproar at Ephesus (Acts 19:29) and shipwrecked with Paul on the island of Malta (Acts 27).
Col 4:10 Aristarchus my fellow prisoner greets you
Demas (v. 24, fellow laborer [in Christ Jesus]; Col 4:14) is mentioned by name only with no descriptive phrases. The only thing we do know about Demas is found in 2 Tim 4:10, Paul says, Demas has forsaken me, having loved this present world. John said, If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him (1 Jn 2:15). Paul’s death was at hand; Demas may have fled for fear of persecution. But during the time of the writing of Philemon Demas was part of the fellowship.
Col 4:14 Luke the beloved physician and Demas greet you.
Luke (v. 24, fellow laborer [in Christ Jesus]; Col 4:14) is the final name in the list in Philemon. He is described by Paul in Colossians as the beloved physician. He was a Gentile Christian doctor, who was the author of the third gospel that bears his name and the book of Acts. Luke often accompanied Paul in his traveling. He was with Paul on his second journey at Troas and Philippi (Acts 20:6). Luke went with him to Jerusalem (Acts 21:15). Luke was shipwrecked with Paul on the island of Malta in Acts 27. He was alone with Paul in his final imprisonment, 2 Timothy 4:11.
Col 4:14 Luke the beloved physician and Demas greet you.
Tychicus (Col 4:7) though not mentioned in the epistle to Philemon probably was known by Philemon. He carried the letter to the church in Colossae and could give his own greetings as he presented the letter addressed to Philemon along with Onesimus.
Col 4:7 Tychicus, a beloved brother, faithful minister, and fellow servant in the Lord, will tell you all the news about me.
Col 4:8 I am sending him to you for this very purpose, that he may know your circumstances and comfort your hearts,
Col 4:9 with Onesimus, a faithful and beloved brother, who is one of you. They will make known to you all things which are happening here.
What is Paul’s point in mentioning these five men? Philemon knows them; and they know him. They are joined together in fellowship. They were involved in a spiritual enterprise of spreading the good news of Jesus Christ that personally cost them something. When we are living and serving God we will be wronged by others. These men could testify to that truth.
They all shared a common goal to be obedient to the truth because they all claimed to be a part of something bigger than themselves – the body of Christ which made them brothers in Christ. Fellowship with God is fractured by sin; and if we are not right with God we will not be right with man. An unforgiving spirit is sin and breaks the bond with other believers who are striving to be obedient to God’s Word.
No believer can act independently of the fellowship which is based upon the standards of Scripture. If we hold a grudge or retaliate we are not doing it in isolation. We cannot violate God’s Word and think we are acting alone in the matter and doesn’t impact anyone else. The body of Christ has spiritual nerve endings. We are all connected by the Holy Spirit. If the Holy Spirit is compelling us to forgive, we must because
1. Primarily, we are accountable to Jesus Christ who is coming, our ultimate spiritual authority. Secondarily, we are accountable to our spiritual leaders on earth who watch out for our spiritual welfare.
2. We are responsible to maintain the standards set for the body of Christ
a. Unforgiveness violates the expectations of others. Every one born again knows that holiness is not optional.
b. Unforgiveness sets a bad example. It does not encourage unity, it does not encourage or inspire others to forgive. Forgiveness is an opportunity for others to see the power of God working in the lives of believers forgiving one another.
These five men are part of the body of Christ, and they are friends of Philemon. We need each other for mutual support to do the right thing. Look at what God is doing in the life of other believers. This is 20/20 hindsight opportunity before you jump ship. All true believers are trying to do the right thing in service to Jesus Christ. When we stray away from the purpose of the body – to do all in the name of Jesus Christ, bringing glory to God (cf. Col 3:17; 1 Cor 10:31), we break the bond of fellowship in an attempt to go solo to the contrary. We can’t lower our standards through disobedience to God’s Word and expect those who strive to keep those standards because of their love for Jesus Christ, to embrace us in fellowship while we get even with another member of the team!
Put 20/20 hindsight on the brothers. See what they have done for God, and what God has done for them in the fellowship. Many have taken a hit for the team to advance the cause of Christ. Look back and see how God has blessed you when you were obedient to Him and recall the problems encountered when you strayed away from him. Remember how much happier you were while serving Him, a feeling of being a part of something greater than yourself than when you only served yourself. We are compelled to forgive just like Epaphras, Mark, Aristarchus, Demas, Luke, Philemon, or anyone else. All are part of the body; and Christ is the head of the body (Col 1:18). Hindsight teaches us that forgiveness keeps the fellowship in tact.
I love the Latin motto of the U.S. Marine Corps, Semper Fidelis or the colloquial, Semper Fi, which means “Always faithful.” It is more than a slogan; it’s a way of life. How much more as soldiers of Jesus Christ are we to be always faithful in service to Him. We cannot accomplish God’s mission if we break from the team. Think of the team, the body of Christ. Hindsight keeps an eye on the team and the team keeps an eye on us. We are all in this together for the furtherance of the Gospel. It has been said that we either draw people to Christ by our actions or we chase them away….
3. Insight (the present), v. 25
Phm 1:25 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit. Amen.
Insight: “Clear or deep perception of a situation; an instance of apprehending the true nature of a thing; an understanding of relationships that sheds light on or helps to solve a problem.”
Grace unmerited favor. This word occurred in the greeting (v. 3) and appears in the farewell (v. 25). Forgiveness is sandwiched in grace.
Your plural pointing back to all addressed in vv. 1-2.
Spirit (cf. Gal 6:18; 2 Tim 4:22) referring to one’s inner spiritual self.
Paul in his benediction is requesting of God for Philemon, family, and the church at Colossae that the unmerited favor of the Lord Jesus Christ by with their spirit.
More than just a benediction or blessing, it is a specific prayer that gives valuable insight into this matter of forgiveness to Philemon, his family, and to all in the church at Colossae, and to us. We must be empowered by the grace of God to forgive or it won’t happen on our own strength; our human nature is too weak; it desires revenge. But the same grace that allowed Jesus to forgive is within us by the Holy Spirit. And it is this grace that makes the impossibility of forgiveness a possibility.
This is the vital connection or foundational relationship for forgiveness to happen. It will take the grace of God to receive and forgive anyone who has done us wrong. Unless we are properly connected to the Source of all grace, relationships will never get off the ground.
There is a quote from a Scottish historian by the name of Thomas Carlyle (1795 – 1881). “Nothing is more terrible than activity without insight.” We only make a mess of things when we try and do things without the grace of God.
So My heavenly Father also will do to you if each of you, from his heart, does not forgive his brother his trespasses (Mt 18:35).
Who wants to be chastened in this life and suffer loss at the Judgment Seat of Christ because of an unforgiving spirit? It isn’t worth it beloved.
Amen So be it!
<><<><<><<><<><<><<><
Three Views:
1. Foresight – Forgive because Jesus is coming.
2. Hindsight – Forgive for the sake of the fellowship.
3. Insight – Only by grace can forgiveness happen.
Postscript. No one knows for absolute certainty if Philemon ever forgave Onesimus. Some would argue that because Philemon is included in the canon that Philemon forgave Onesimus. The data would strongly suggest that he did. But is that the question whether Philemon did or not? Perhaps the question as posed by O. S. Hawkins should be, “What will we do with the Onesimus in our life?”
There is an Irish blessing that goes something like this.
“May you have the hindsight to know where you’ve been, the foresight to know where you are going, and the insight to know when you have gone too far.”
I would define having “gone too far” here as going without the grace of God; the moment we left grace behind we have gone too far. Do we have enough foresight to see Jesus coming and make ready, enough hindsight to keep the fellowship in tact (cf. Heb 10:24), enough insight to realize that without grace we can’t forgive?
Without love, beloved, we are nothing, nothing but unforgiving spirits living out Cafeterianity, our plates full of self rather than Scripture. Jesus is coming! Semper Fi.
How sweet are Your words to my taste, Sweeter than honey to my mouth! Psa 119:103Oh, taste and see that the LORD is good; Blessed is the man who trusts in Him! Psa 34:8
