Pastors Jim and Marie Watt
PHILEMON SUMMARY - CHRISTIAN PERSUASION ON BEHALF OF RESTORATION
A. 1-3 GREETINGS
PAUlos, DESmi-os [1198] ChrisTOU IeSOU, kai TiMOthe-os ho a-delPHOS,
Paul, prisoner of Christ Jesus, and Timothy the brother,
PhiLEmo-ni to a-ga-peTO [27] kai su-nerGO [4904] heMON,
to Philemon the beloved and our fellow-worker,
ApPHIa te a-delPHE, kai ArCHIPpo to sun-stra-tiOte [4961] heMON,
2 and to Apphia the sister, and to Archippus our :fellow-soldier,
kai te kat' OI-KON [3624] sou ek-kleSIa [1577]:
and to the church in your house:
CHAris huMIN kai eiREne aPO TheOU paTROS heMON kai KuRIou IeSOU ChrisTOU.
3Grace to you and peace from God our Father and theLord Jesus Christ.
B. 4-20 USE OF REASON IN PLEADING FOR REDEMPTION
1. 4-7 PAUL'S WITNESS TO PHILEMON'S CHARACTER
a. 4-6 PAUL COMMENDS PHILEMON'S FAITH AND LOVE
Eu-cha-riSTO to [2168] TheO mou PANto-te MNEIan [3417] sou poiOUme-nos ePI ton pro-seuCHON mou,
I thank my :God alway making mention of you in my :prayers,
aKOUon sou ten aGApen kai ten PIstin hen Echeis eis ton KUri-on IeSOUN, kai eis PANtas tous haGIous;
5hearing of your :love and the faith which you havetoward the Lord Jesus, and toward all the saints;
HOpos he koi-noNIa [2842] tes PIsteOS sou e-nerGES [1756] GEne-tai,
6so that the fellowship of your :faith may become effectual,
en e-pigNOsei [1922] panTOS a-gaTHOU tou en heMIN, eis ChrisTON IeSOUN.
in knowledge of every good that is in us, toward Christ Jesus.
b. 7 PAUL'S ENRICHMENT FROM THIS
chaRAN [5485] gar polLEN ESchon kai paRAklesin [3874] ePI te aGApe sou, HOti ta SPLAGCHna [4698]
For much joy I had and comfort over your :love, because the hearts
ton haGIon a-naPEpau-tai [373] diA sou, a-delPHE.
of the saints have been refreshed through you, brother.
2. 8-20 PAUL MARSHALS ARGUMENTS FOR RESTORATION OF ONESIMUS
a. 8-14 PAUL'S CONCERN
Di' HO, polLEN en ChrisTO par-reSIan [3954] Echon e-piTASsein [2004] soi to aNEkon [433],
Wherefore, though having much boldness in Christ to enjoin you what is befitting,
diA ten aGApen MALlon pa-ra-kaLO [3870], toiOUtos on hos PAUlos,
9for :love's sakeI rather beseech, being such as Paul,
presBUtes [4246] nuNI de kai DESmi-os [1198] ChrisTOU IeSOU:
an old manand now also prisoner of Christ Jesus:
- pa-ra-kaLO se peRI tou eMOU TEKnou [5043], hon eGENne-sa [1080]en tois desMOIS, O-NEsi-mon,
TON po-te soi Achre-ston [990], nuNI de soi kai eMOI EUchre-ston [2173]:
11once :unprofitable to you, but now profitable to you and to me:
hon aNEpemPSA [375] soi auTON, tout' EStin, ta eMA SPLAGCHna [4698],
12whom I have sent back to you himself, that is, my very :heart,
hon eGO e-bouLOmen [1014] pros e-mauTON kaTEchein [2722], HIna huPER sou
13whom I would fain keep with me, that in your behalf
moi di-a-koNE [1247] en tois desMOIS [1199] tou eu-ag-geLIou:
he minister unto me in the bonds of the gospel:
choRIS de tes ses GNOmes [1106] ouDEN eTHEle-sa [2309] poiEsai;
14but without your :mind I wished to do nothing;
HIna me hos kaTA aNAGken [318] to a-gaTHON sou e, alLA kaTA eKOUsi-on [1595].
that your :goodnessbe not as of necessity, but of free will.
b. 15-16 GOD'S PROVIDENCE
TAcha gar diA TOUto e-choRISthe [5563] pros HOran [5610],
For perhaps he was therefore parted from youfor an hour,
HIna aiOni-on [166] auTON aPEches [568]; ouKEti hos DOUlon [1402], alLA huPER DOUlon,
that you should have him for ever; 16no longer as bondman, but more than bondman,
a-delPHON a-ga-peTON, MAlis-ta [3122]eMOI, POso de MALlon soi, kai en sarKI kai en KuRIo.
a brother beloved, specially to me, but how much rather to you, both in theflesh and in theLord.
c. 17 If therefore you have me for partner, receive him as myself.
ei oun me Echeis koi-noNON [2844], pros-laBOU [4355]auTON hos eME.
d. 18-19 PAUL: GOOD FOR ANY DEBTS
ei, de, ti eDIkeSEN [91]se e oPHEIlei [3784], TOUto eMOI elLOga [1677];
If, therefore, he wronged you aught or owes, charge this to me;
eGOPAUlos Egra-psa teeME cheiRI, eGOa-poTIso [661]:
19I Paul write with my :hand, I will repay:
HIna meLEgo soi HOti kai se-auTON moi pro-soPHEIleis [4359].
that I tell you not that you owe me besides even you ownself.
e. 20 Yes, brother, let me have help of you in theLord: refresh my :heart in Christ.
nai, a-delPHE, eGO sou oNAImen [3685] en KuRIo: aNApauSON mou ta SPLAGCHna en ChrisTO.
C. 21-22 PAUL'S CONFIDENCE IN PHILEMON'S FELLOWSHIP
a. 21 Trusting your :obedience I write you, knowing that you will do even beyond what I say.
Pe-poiTHOS [3982]te hu-pa-koE[5218]sou EgraPSA soi, eiDOS HOti kai huPER ha LEgopoiEseis.
b. 22 PAUL'S HOPE
HAma de kai eTOImaZE [2090] moi xeNIan [3578]:
But withal prepare me also a lodging:
elPIzo[1679]gar HOti diA ton pro-seuCHON [4335]huMON cha-risTHEso-mai [5483]huMIN.
for I hope that through your :prayers I shall be granted you.
D. 23-24 GREETINGS
AsPAzaTE [782] se EpaPHRAS ho su-naichMAloTOS [4869]mou en ChrisTOIeSOU;
My :follow-prisoner in Christ Jesus Epaphras greets you;
MARkos, A-RIStar-chos, DeMAS, LouKAS, hoi su-nerGOI mou [4904].
24so doesMark, Aristarchus, Demas, Luke, my :fellow-workers.
E. 25 The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your :spirit.
He CHAris [5485] tou KuRIou IeSOU ChrisTOU meTA tou PNEUma-tos [4151] huMON.
NOTE: Verse 1 of Philemon mentions the church in the home of Archippus. Out of 114 NT references to church, 14 refer to a church in a house. 4 quite clearly are identified with a person, while the other 10 are established by context. Of course, 81 references refer to the church of a city. 14 references of the 81 to the City Church, are clearly identified as such in Revelation 2 and 3. The other 67 are identified by context.
Philemon 8-20 contain the main purpose of Paul's letter to this friend and brother. This is one of the wisest, most loving, and logical array of reasons for this brother to accede to this heart-moving appeal of Paul on behalf of Onesimus to be found in the entire Bible.
Again, the fact that it is the 14thletter of Paul recorded at the leading of the Holy Spirit, is significant. Though much valuable material appears in Romans through Titus, yet this last letter and chapter is placed to receive our special attention. It is also the 100thchapter of Paul's 14 NT letters. In whatever way we consider this letter to Philemon, it is obvious that God desires us to master how we too are to prevail upon a friend to follow through on the exhortation God gives us, for his wise and loving action.
Let us remember, Romans is the first of these 14 letters. In the law of Pedagogy, the Law of First Referencece or appearance lays the key theme that will prevail throughout. “Justification by Faith - not Works” - is that basic theme. But how to win over a friend to the action God seeks - is the close of these letters; and again reveals the heart of God.
God in His great wisdom has so led the various Bible translators - so that even if some do not come up to the highest level of accuracy according to Biblical Criticism - yet no sincere seeker after God through anytranslation, will not fail to find Him. However - for the teacher who wants to get as close to the original text as possible, then Textual Criticism takes on a new dimension of importance. But - what God has reserved for these last days in His Bible Numerics as uncovered so carefully by Russian Ivan Panin, cannot fail to impress us as it leads us to accurate teaching. The very fact that “context” is so carefully laid out by sentence, subdivisions, paragraph and section structure, cannot fail to impress us with its clarity and simplicity. This book of Philemon is chapter 132 of the Interlinear Greek bible Numeric NT based on these discoveries that I have just completed, out of the 260 chapters of the full NT. This was the desire of Panin to see accomplished, but until now since his death in 1942 - is finally about to see his dream fully realized. J.A.W.
WHY THE HOLOCAUST - By Asher Intrater - 2010-04-11
This Monday (April 12) marks Holocaust Remembrance Day in Israel. When sharing the gospel with our people, we often encounter the objection: "I can't believe in God because of the Holocaust."
Here is a brief survey of the biblical answers to this question:
Universal Sin – God created the world perfect. Evil in the world began and continues because of mankind's sin and refusal to obey (Genesis 3). It is not God who is to blame for suffering in the world but human beings. Yeshua gave the example that the people who were murdered by Pilate were not greater sinners than others, but that all people need to repent (Luke 13:1-5). People are not primarily "good" and progressively evolving into a better moral state. All people have sinned. The Holocaust is a great proof of the biblical view that mankind are sinners in need of repentance and grace.
Jewish Sin – Amazingly, the events of the Holocaust were predicted as far back as the Law of Moses. Leviticus 26:33, 38 and Deuteronomy 28:63-64 speak of the exile and horrible suffering of the Jewish people as a punishment of our sin.
Gentile Sin – While the exile and suffering of the Jews are seen as a punishment from God, much of what happened in the Holocaust and many other cases of anti-Semitism were NOT what God decreed. God dispersed us into the Gentile nations because of our sin; but how the Gentiles treated us was their sin. Zechariah 1:15 – I am exceedingly angry with the nations at ease; for I was a little angry, and they helped – but with evil intent. God is angrier with the Gentile nations for their anti-Semitism than He was with the Jewish people for their sins that caused the exile in the first place.
Replacement Theology – Romans 11 states that there is a continuing destiny for the Jews as the chosen people. This was denied both by the Catholic church in the Middle Ages and by Luther in the Reformation. The denial of the chosenness of the Jewish people in Christian theology allowed for anti-Semitism to be justified in Christian nations. Although most true Christians reject anti-Zionism and anti-Semitism today, the errors of replacement theology allowed for many Christians to remain silent during the Holocaust and some even to be active in Nazism.
Rejecting Messiah – The coming of Messiah was meant to be a blessing for Israel and the nations. Our rejection of Yeshua turned much of that blessing into a curse. Luke 19:44 – Your enemies will level you to the ground and destroy your children within you… because you did not know the time of your visitation. We in effect cursed ourselves (Matthew 27:25).
Rejecting Zionism by Rabbis – The first Aliyah (immigration wave) of modern Zionism began in 1881, almost 60 years before the Holocaust. I believe God was calling Jewish people to leave areas of danger in Europe to travel either to America or to Israel. Those who listened were saved. Tragically, the rabbinic leadership in Eastern Europe radically opposed Zionism as false messianism, and told the people not to follow them. As a result, multitudes of religious were left to be slaughtered.
Rejecting Zionism by Humanists – Theodore Herzl began his preaching for a Jewish State in 1897 after witnessing anti-Semitism in the case of Captain Alfred Dreyfus. Many liberal Jews in Western Europe could have been saved from the horrors of the Holocaust had they also moved to America or Israel. They stayed because of the illusion of affluence and the lies of liberal secular humanism, which denied the danger at hand. Today as well, "political correctness" stands in opposition to the basic defense of the Jewish state from the threat of a modern day Holocaust at the hands of Islamic Jihad.
Suffering of the Righteous – In all generations the righteous suffer. To the degree that a society has values of integrity, the righteous will be rewarded. To the degree that a society has lost its moral values, the righteous suffer. II Timothy 3:12 – All who desire to live godly in Messiah Yeshua will suffer persecution. The righteous have suffered from the time of Cain and Abel, to the prophets and patriarchs of Israel, to Christians in the Muslim world today. Communist China under Mao massacred many more people than the Nazis. The Turks murdered multitudes in the Armenian "Holocaust."
Suffering of the Chosen People – There is a mysterious parallel between the crucifixion of Yeshua as Messiah and the suffering of the Jews as the chosen people. Although our people rejected Yeshua because of sin, the revelation was also partially "hidden from your eyes" – Luke 19:42. The exile was not only a punishment; there was a divine purpose to allow "salvation to come to the Gentiles" – Romans 11:11. The exile and suffering of the Jewish people has redemptive aspects for the Gentiles. This is parallel to the suffering of missionaries and evangelists as they present the gospel (Colossians 1:24).
Satan against the Second Coming – After the sin of Adam and Eve, God promised to bring a "seed" who would destroy Satan (Genesis 3:15). That seed was Yeshua. He was to come through Abraham's descendants (Genesis 22:18). Therefore satanic forces (like Pharaoh, Haman, and Herod) have always tried to kill the Jewish people. These attacks against the Jewish people might have ended when Yeshua was born. However Yeshua extended the promise to include the Second Coming as well as the First. Matthew 23:39 – You will see Me no more until you say, "Blessed is He who comes…" The Holocaust and Islamic Jihad are satanic attempts to prevent the Jewish people from fulfilling their end time destiny of bringing the Messiah back into the world (at which time the devil will be incarcerated [Revelation 20:2]).
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