https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/SurveyOfTheBiblePhilemon.mp3<\/a><\/audio>\n\tSurvey of the Bible – Philemon<\/h1>\n
Text: Colossians 4:7-18<\/p>\n
<\/p>\nI. Near the end of Paul’s third journey, he visited churches to gather funds to relieve the\nfamine stricken brethren in Judea. – I Corinthians 16:1-9\n A. Several of the churches sent representatives to travel with Paul – II Corinthians\n8:16-24\n B. Several of these men are named in Acts 20:1-4. Take special note of Aristarchus,\nTimothy, and Tychicus. \n C. While in Jerusalem, Paul is arrested and after spending several years in prison in\nPalestine, he is eventually sent to Rome for trial. Acts 27:1-2 names Luke (the\n“we”) and Aristarchus as companions on this trip.\nII. From the prison in Rome, Paul wrote four of the letters in our New Testament: Ephesians,\nPhilippians, Colossians, and Philemon. The Philippians letter was believed to have been\nwritten later than the other three.\n A. These letters were delivered by Tychicus. There wasn’t a regular mail service in\nthose days. You generally sent letters via a trusted messenger. The messenger not\nonly delivered the formal letter, but was able to fill in the details and answer\nquestions from his personal knowledge of the situation.\n
1. Ephesians 6:21-22<\/p>\n
2. Colossians 4:7-9<\/p>\n B. Tychicus is not mentioned in the letter to Philemon, but it is assumed the letter to\nPhilemon was written and sent at the same time because the same sets of people\nare mentioned.\n 1. Both the letter to Colossae and Philemon are stated to be from Paul and\nTimothy. – Colossians 1:1; Philemon 1\n 2. Both mention Epaphras. The letter to Philemon telling us that Epaphras\nwas in prison with Paul – Colossians 4:12; Philemon 23\n 3. Both mention Mark, Aristarchus, Luke, and Demas – Colossians 4:10, 14;\nPhilemon 24\n
4. Both address Archippus – Colossians 4:17; Philemon 2<\/p>\n 5. Both mention that Paul is currently in prison – Colossians 4:18; Philemon\n9; (Ephesians 6:20 also mentions that Paul is in prison)\n 6. Both mention Onesimus. In fact, it is Onesimus’s situation that is the\nprimary focus of the letter to Philemon – Colossians 4:9; Philemon 10-21\n C. Colossians 4:16 also mentions a letter to the Laodiceans that is to be shared with\nthe brethren in Colossae\n 1. If you read most commentaries, you will find the general opinion that the\nletter to Laodicea was lost.\n 2. This is surprising given the care early Christians took in preserving the\nwords of God delivered through the Apostles.\n
a. Mark 13:31 – Jesus said his words would not pass away<\/p>\n
b. I Peter 1:24-25 – Peter said God’s words would abide forever<\/p>\n 3. The idea of losing a letter known to at least two congregations is very\ndisturbing.\n
III. What happened to the Letter to the Laodiceans?<\/p>\n
A. A hint is presented to us in Colossians 4:16-17<\/p>\n 1. When the Colossians go to exchange letters, they are instructed to remind\nArchippus to do his duty as a minister.\n 2. Archippus is mentioned as a fellow soldier in the house of Philemon\nwhere the church meets.\n 3. Many commentators state that the church of Colossae met in Philemon’s\nhouse.\n
a. If this was true, the Archippus would be the minister in Colossae. <\/p>\n b. He would have heard the words of Paul when the letter was read in\nColossae. \n c. Why would the Colossians be told to speak to Archippus in\nLaodicea?\n B. Another objection is that Colossians 4:15 mentions the brethren in Laodicea and\nthe church that meets in Nympha’s house.\n
1. It is assumed that Nympha’s house is in Laodicea.<\/p>\n 2. However, notice that greetings are given to two groups: the brethren in\nLaodicea and the church in Nympha’s house. Either Paul is repeating the\nsame greeting or he is addressing two groups.\n 3. In Colossians 4:13 there is mention of brethren in Colossae, Laodicea, and\nHierapolis. \n a. Hierapolis was 6 miles from Laodicea. The two towns were in\nviewing distance of each other across a valley.\n b. Colossae was about 11 miles from Laodicea and 13 miles from\nHierapolis.\n
4. It is more likely that Nympha was in Hierapolis.<\/p>\n C. The closeness of these three towns also explains Paul’s statement that Onesimus\nbeing one of the Colossians’ number – Colossians 4:9\n
1. It is likely that Onesimus was born in the Colossae region.<\/p>\n 2. Some suggest that Paul is stating that Onesimus is a Christian and their\nbrother.\n
a. However, Onesimus became a Christian while on the lam in Rome.<\/p>\n
b. He wasn’t a member at Colossae.<\/p>\n
D. Another objection is that Philemon is a personal letter.<\/p>\n 1. Yet, if you read Philemon 1-2 you will see that the letter was addressed to\nthe church in Philemon’s house as well as Archippus and Apphia (possibly\nPhilemon’s wife?).\n 2. Philemon is a letter to a church, yet its personal contents explains Paul’s\nreference to it in Colossians 4:16.\n
a. Paul doesn’t refer to it as the letter to the church in Laodicea.<\/p>\n
b. He just calls it the letter from Laodicea.<\/p>\n
IV. Why did Paul make a personal letter public?<\/p>\n
A. Onesimus was a run-away slave.<\/p>\n 1. By Roman law, his master could do anything he wanted to punish him for\nrunning away, including torture and making an example of him by killing\nhim.\n 2. Onesimus probably ran to Rome (almost 1,200 miles away) to hide by\nblending into that great metropolis.\n
B. Somehow Onesimus met Paul and was converted to Christ.<\/p>\n 1. Perhaps it was the appearance of Epaphras, who was from Colossae –\nColossians 1:7-8.\n 2. Epaphras was knowledgeable about the churches in Laodicea and\nHierapolis – Colossians 4:12-13\n
3. He probably had seen Onesimus before and knew he was a run-away slave.<\/p>\n
4. Perhaps his coming led Onesimus to confess his past to Paul.<\/p>\n
5. However it came about, Paul persuaded Onesimus to return to his master.<\/p>\n 6. Paul lived in accordance with the laws of man where possible and he\nurged others to do the same.\n C. However, Paul was determined to do everything he could to protect this new\nChristian.\n
1. He appeals to Philemon’s desire to do what is right – Philemon 8<\/p>\n 2. He appeals to Philemon’s sympathy for the aged Paul who is in prison –\nPhilemon 9\n 3. He emphasizes that Onesimus was a Christian now and a Christian who\nhas personally gave service to the apostle Paul – Philemon 10-13\n
4. He appeals to Philemon’s goodness – Philemon 14<\/p>\n
5. He asks Philemon to treat Onesimus as he would treat Paul – Philemon 17<\/p>\n
6. Paul pledges to repay any debt Onesimus owed Philemon – Philemon 18<\/p>\n
7. He pointed out the Philemon owes his own life to Paul – Philemon 19<\/p>\n 8. He mentions that he is confident that Philemon would do more than Paul\nasked and Paul had hinted that he would like Onesimus to be sent back –\nPhilemon 21\n 9. Oh, and by the way, Paul is planning to come by in the near future and\nplans to stay in Philemon’s house – Philemon 22\n D. Talk about arm twisting! Yet on top of this, Paul addressed this letter to the\nchurch in Philemon’s house.\n
1. Since Tychicus delivered the letter, everyone would know its content.<\/p>\n 2. Even if Philemon had the slightest inkling to punish Onesimus, he would\nhave to explain himself to his brethren why he won’t concede to the aged\napostle’s wishes.\n E. As if this wasn’t enough, Paul made sure that the Colossian brethren had met\nOnesimus and knew of Paul’s love for the man.\n 1. He also told the Colossians to share their letter with the Laodiceans and to\nbe sure to ask for Paul’s letter to them (the letter to Philemon).\n
2. There would be no denying its existence!<\/p>\n 3. And as a final stroke, Paul sends a personal message to the preacher in\nLaodicea via the Colossians to remember to do his duty.\n a. A not so subtle hint that Archippus was to make sure that Paul’s\nwill was carried out.\nV. The matter between Philemon and Onesimus was a private matter, but Paul made sure\nthat it would be settled publicly.\n
A. Paul never denied that Philemon had the right to punish Onesimus.<\/p>\n
B. He just made it extremely awkward for Philemon to do so.<\/p>\n
1. And why not? A man’s life was at stake!<\/p>\n
2. Could Paul have done anything less?<\/p>\n 3. And how delicately, tactfully, and beautifully Paul boxes Philemon in to\nonly do the right thing.\n
C. "An inscription erected by a freed slave from Laodicea was dedicated to Marcus Sestius Philemon. It will be recalled that a Philemon who owned the slave Onesimus (Philem. 10) was a leader in the church of Colossae [should be Laodicea – jwh]. We cannot identify this Philemon with the slaveholder to whom Paul wrote, but the coincidence of the inscription from the same area is intriguing, especially since it refers to the manumission of a slave." [John McRay, Archaeology and the New Testament<\/em>, p. 247].<\/p>\n D. Can you imagine the conniptions brethren would have today with such dealings?<\/p>\n 1. The Laodiceans would have told the Colossians to mind their own\nbusiness.\n
2. “Churches are autonomous. You can’t tell our preacher what to do!”<\/p>\n e. Brethren have a duty to watch out for each other, even if they are members of\nneighboring congregations.\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tTitus\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSurvey of the Bible\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tHebrews\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Survey of the Bible – Philemon Text: Colossians 4:7-18 I. Near the end of Paul’s third journey, he visited churches to gather funds to relieve the famine stricken brethren in Judea. – I Corinthians 16:1-9 A. Several of the churches sent representatives to travel with Paul – II Corinthians 8:16-24 B. Several of these men are named…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":16880,"menu_order":57,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-22775","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":16880,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/bible-studies\/survey-of-the-bible\/","url_meta":{"origin":22775,"position":0},"title":"Survey of the Bible","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"December 18, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Survey of the Bible by Jeffery W. Hamilton Old Testament Genesis Exodus Leviticus Numbers Deuteronomy Joshua Judges Ruth I Samuel II Samuel I Kings II Kings I Chronicles II Chronicles Ezra Nehemiah Esther Job Psalms Proverbs Ecclesiastes Song of Solomon Isaiah Jeremiah Lamentations Ezekiel Daniel Hosea Joel Amos Obadiah Jonah\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":22769,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/bible-studies\/survey-of-the-bible\/survey-of-the-bible-titus\/","url_meta":{"origin":22775,"position":1},"title":"Survey of the Bible – Titus","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"May 22, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Survey of the Bible - Titus Text: Titus 2:11-15\u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The book of Titus is a set of instructions for setting up churches. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Titus was sent by Paul to get the churches in Crete in order. II.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Background of Titus \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Titus isn\u2019t mentioned in Acts, but he is mentioned in three other\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":22728,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/bible-studies\/survey-of-the-bible\/survey-of-the-bible-colossians\/","url_meta":{"origin":22775,"position":2},"title":"Survey of the Bible – Colossians","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"May 22, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Survey of the Bible - Colossians Text: Colossians 2:1-7 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The letter to the church in Colossae is one of the four letters Paul wrote from prison while in Rome. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0It was written about the same time as Ephesians and Philemon and were delivered by the same messengers - Tychicus\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":59633,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/bible-studies\/christ-in-you-a-study-of-colossians\/wrapping-up\/","url_meta":{"origin":22775,"position":3},"title":"Wrapping Up","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 27, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"Wrapping Up Text:\u00a0Colossians 4:7-18 Introduction to Tychicus - Colossians 4:7-9 There was no formal postal service in those days. Letters were given to trusted messengers who not only saw that the letter reached the proper destination, but who could also fill in the details and answer questions from their personal\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":22718,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/bible-studies\/survey-of-the-bible\/survey-of-the-bible-ephesians\/","url_meta":{"origin":22775,"position":4},"title":"Survey of the Bible – Ephesians","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"May 21, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Survey of the Bible - Ephesians Text: Acts 20:17-38 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Paul spent a good bit of time in Ephesus \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0He first came to the city near the end of his second journey - Act 18:18-19 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a01.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0He was invited to stay longer but he was traveling to Jerusalem - Acts 18:20-21\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":22744,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/bible-studies\/survey-of-the-bible\/survey-of-the-bible-i-timothy\/","url_meta":{"origin":22775,"position":5},"title":"Survey of the Bible – I Timothy","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"May 22, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Survey of the Bible - I Timothy Text: I Timothy 1:1-11 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Background \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The books of I Timothy and Titus appear to have been written about the same time because of their similar content. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0B.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Paul had spent two years in prison in Rome - Acts 28:30-31 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0C.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Just before his release,\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/22775","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22775"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/22775\/revisions"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/16880"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22775"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}