Philemon-Philemon 4-7-Paul's Thanksgiving and Prayer for Philemon
Wenstrom Bible Ministries
Pastor-Teacher Bill Wenstrom
Sunday March 17, 2013
Philemon: Philemon 4-7-Paul’s Thanksgiving and Prayer for Philemon
Lesson # 5
Please turn in your Bibles to Philemon 4.
Philemon 1 From Paul, a prisoner owned by Christ, who is Jesus, along with Timothy, our spiritual brother, to Philemon, who is our dear friend and co-worker 2 as well as to Apphia, our spiritual sister and in addition, Archippus, our fellow-soldier, also, the church, which is in your private home. 3 Grace to all of you as well as peace from God our Father as well as the Lord, who is Jesus, who is the Christ. (My translation)
Philemon 4 I thank my God always, making mention of you in my prayers. (NASB95)
“I thank my God always” teaches that Paul was constantly offering thanksgiving to God the Father through the Lord Jesus Christ for Philemon during his prayers.
“Making mention of you in my prayers” indicates that Paul gave thanks to the Father for Philemon when he recalled the love that Philemon exercised towards himself and the body of Christ, which demonstrated his faith in the Word of God.
Philemon 4 I continue making it a habit of giving thanks to my God always as I myself continue to make it a habit of remembering you during my prayers. (Author’s translation)
Philemon 4 reveals that Paul interceded in prayer for Philemon and that the apostle made it a habitual part of his prayer life to thank the Father for Philemon, which is an excellent example for all pastors to follow as well as all Christians.
This verse also indicates that thanksgiving was an integral part of the apostle Paul’s prayer life and demonstrates his great appreciation for other believers who have been so gracious to him throughout his ministry.
One of the characteristics of a productive prayer life is that of thankfulness (Matt 15:36; 26:27; Mark 8:6; 14:23; Luke 22:17-19; John 6:11; 23; 11:41; Acts 27:35; 28:15; Rom. 1:8; 7:25; 1 Cor. 1:4; 11:24; Eph. 5:20; Col. 1:12; 3:17; Phlp. 1:3-4; 4:6; 1 Thess. 1:2; 2:13).
Philemon 5 because I hear of your love and of the faith which you have toward the Lord Jesus and toward all the saints. (NASB95)
“Because I hear of your love and of the faith” refers to Paul hearing news about Philemon’s love and faithfulness toward the Lord Jesus as well as all the saints and giving thanks to the Father because of this.
“Love” is the noun agapē (ἀγάπη), which is used of the love of God manifested in the life of Philemon indicating that he reflected God’s love towards the Lord Jesus by demonstrating this love in his relationships with members of the body of Christ.
The noun agape refers to the love of God reproduced in the life of Philemon by the Holy Spirit when he exercised faith in the Word of God and specifically faith in his union and identification with Christ.
The word refers to God’s love practiced by Philemon toward the Lord and his fellow Christians since this is the direct result of his exercising faith in the command in John 13:34.
“Faith” is the noun pistis (πίστις), which means “faithfulness” and not “faith” since Paul is describing outward manifestations of Philemon’s conduct toward the Lord Jesus and the body of Christ.
Pistis denotes that Philemon was “faithful” in fulfilling his responsibilities to the Lord and the body of Christ in that he exercised love toward the Lord Jesus as demonstrated by the exercise of divine love toward his fellow believer.
Philemon’s faithfulness toward the Lord Jesus was manifested by his faithfulness in serving the body of Christ.
Furthermore if Paul wanted to refer to Philemon’s faith, he would employ pistis before agape since in his writings faith in the Word of God produces love that is exercised toward the Lord and all the saints, which indicates that faith will result in the believer loving his fellow believer and all men as the Lord loves all men (Galatians 5:6).
“Which you have toward the Lord Jesus and towards all the saints” indicates that Philemon continued to regularly demonstrate his divine-love in the presence of the Lord Jesus and toward all the saints.
Paul is saying that he continued to regularly give thanks to the Father for Philemon because he continued to regularly hear about Philemon’s love as well as his faithfulness which he continued to regularly demonstrate toward the Lord Jesus which is for the benefit of all the saints.
Philemon 5 because I continue to regularly hear about your divine-love as well as your faithfulness, which you continue to regularly demonstrate toward the Lord who is Jesus, which is for the benefit of each and every one of the saints. (My translation)
Philemon 6 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. (NASB95)
“And I pray that the fellowship of your faith may become effective” means that Philemon’s fellowship produced by his faith in the Word of God would cause itself to be manifested as effective.
“Fellowship” is the noun koinōnia (κοινωνία), which means “fellowship” referring to communion with God which is the direct result of obedience to the Spirit of God who speaks to the believer through the Word of God, which He inspired.
“Faith” is the noun pistis (πίστις), which means “faith” and not “faithfulness” as it did in Philemon 5 since the word refers to that which produces fellowship with God and other Christians, namely faith in the Word of God.
The word speaks of Philemon’s post-conversion faith in the Word of God or in other words, his faith in the Spirit’s teaching that is revealed through the communication of the Word of God.
It does not refer to saving faith or justifying faith in Jesus Christ for eternal salvation but rather the Christian’s faith in the Word of God after their conversion since in context Paul is addressing Philemon’s fellowship with God and other believers.
The noun pistis functions as a genitive of production indicating that Philemon’s fellowship with God and other Christians was produced by his faith in the Spirit’s teaching in the Word of God.
“Effective” is the adjective energēs (ἐνεργής), which indicates that Paul is saying that he prayed that Philemon’s fellowship produced by his faith in the Word of God would become “effective” in the sense that it would cause him to produce divine good.
“Through the knowledge of every good thing which is in you for Christ’s sake” indicates that an experiential knowledge of God in the sense of personally encountering God resulting in the gaining of more of the character of Christ is the reason why fellowship is effective, i.e. produces divine good.
“Knowledge” is the noun epignōsis (ἐπίγνωσις), which refers to an “experiential knowledge” of the Trinity in the sense of personally encountering the Trinity through the process of fellowship, which is experienced by obedience to the Spirit’s teaching which is recorded in the Word of God.
This results in being affected by this encounter with the Trinity and the gaining of practical spiritual wisdom and more of the character of Christ.
“Every good thing” describes actions divine in quality and character because they are produced by the Holy Spirit while the believer is experiencing fellowship and emphasizes various types of acts that benefit others and are motivated by the Spirit and in obedience to the Spirit.
“In you” refers not only to Philemon but also Apphia and Archippus as well as the entire church which met in the home of Philemon.
“For Christ’s sake” indicates that Christ Himself benefited from the divine good produced by Paul, Philemon, Apphia, Archippus and the church which met in Philemon’s home since it manifested His character and nature.
Philemon 6 I make it a habit to pray that the fellowship produced by your faith would cause itself to be manifested as effective because of an experiential knowledge, which produces every type of divine good of intrinsic quality and character, which is in all of us on behalf of Christ. (Author’s translation)
In Philemon 6, Paul is in effect saying that he prayed that Philemon’s fellowship with God and the body of Christ would cause itself to be manifested as effective because of personally encountering the Trinity.
The Christian encounters God in the sense that on the basis of their union and identification with His Son Jesus Christ God the Father produces divine good through them when their actions are the result of obedience to the Spirit’s teaching in the Word of God.
Also, they personally encounter the Father, Son and the Spirit because all three are working through the believer as a result of their faith in the Word of God.
Christian Fellowship denotes the following concepts: (1) Relationship with Christ: We are all permanently united together by the common (eternal) life that we share as a result of regeneration and the Baptism of the Spirit (Acts 2:42; 1 C. 1:9; 1 Jn. 1:3). (2) Partnership: We are to work together for a common purpose to obtain common objectives for the glory of God and the gospel of Jesus Christ (cf. Phil 1:27; Phlp. 1:5; Gal. 2:9; Heb. 1:9). (3) Companionship: We are to communicate with one another and have fellowship with one another sharing with one another the things (viewpoint and thinking) of Christ (Acts. 2:42; Heb. 10:25; 2 Tim. 2:2; 1 Thess. 5:11; Rom. 1:11-12; 2 Tim. 2:2; 1 Thess 5:11; Philem. 6). (4) Stewardship: We must recognize that all we have belongs to the Lord and has been given to us as trusts from God to invest for His purposes. Believers need to be willing to share their material possessions for the promotion of the gospel and to help those in need. Good stewardship stems from recognizing our relationship to Jesus Christ, but it also means recognizing our partnership in Christ’s enterprise on earth. (Rom. 12:13; 15:27; Gal. 6:6; Phil. 4:15; Rom. 15:26; 2 Cor. 8:4; 9:13; Heb. 13:16; 1 Tim. 6:18).
Philemon 7 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. (NASB95)
“For I have come to have much joy and comfort in your love” advances upon and intensifies upon Paul’s previous statements in verses 4-6 in that he goes from writing that Philemon’s love was the basis for his giving thanks for him to the Father to writing that his love was the basis for giving him joy and encouragement.
“Joy” is the noun chara means “joy” and refers to the apostle Paul experiencing joy which is produced in him by the Holy Spirit when he heard about Philemon demonstrated divine-love towards members of the body of Christ in Colossae.
“Comfort” is the noun paraklēsis, which refers to the apostle Paul being encouraged because he continued to hear about Philemon’s divine love being manifested to members of the body of Christ in Colossae.
Philemon’s love encouraged Paul in the sense that it gave Paul confidence that Philemon would meet his request and accept Onesimus as a brother in Christ rather than an unregenerate slave of his.
“Much” is the adjective polus, which denotes the concept of excessiveness indicating that Paul experienced an excessive amount of joy and encouragement because of hearing about Philemon’s love for the body of Christ in Colossae.
“In your love” indicates that Paul experienced much joy and encouragement because of Philemon’s love.
“Because the hearts of the saints have been refreshed through you, brother” explains or clarifies Paul’s previous statement that he experienced much joy and encouragement because of Philemon’s love.
Thus, Paul experienced much joy and encouragement because of Philemon’s love in the sense that Philemon’s love refreshed the hearts of those saints who were the recipients or objects and beneficiaries of Philemon’s love, which was manifested by his great hospitality.
This explanatory clause teaches that Philemon’s love as demonstrated by his hospitality refreshed the hearts of the saints who were weary mentally, physically and spiritually as a result persecution or some other type of adversity.
It also teaches that Philemon was the intermediate personal agency which the Father, Son and Holy Spirit employed to refresh the hearts of their people.
Philemon 7 Indeed, I have experienced much joy as well as encouragement because of your divine-love in the sense that the hearts of the saints have been refreshed through you, spiritual brother. (Author’s translation)
God the Holy Spirit has refreshed the hearts of the saints through Philemon as Philemon obeyed the Spirit’s voice who taught him and all Christians to love one another.
So Paul is saying that Philemon was the instrument that the Spirit used to refresh the hearts of the saints.
