Title Philemon 04-06 Beneficial servant
Contents
Beneficial servant (Phm 1:4-16)
The book of Philemon is a short letter of only one chapter, but its content is profound and moving. It introduces the life of a changed saint. The book of Philemon is the content of a letter Paul wrote to Philemon, who was a central figure in the Church of Colossae from prison in Rome and served as a pillar.
The motivation and purpose of Paul writing the book of Philemon was that Philemon had a servant named Onesimus. However, I do not know what wrong he had committed against his master and ran away, but he left his master and came to Rome, met the apostle Paul in a Roman prison, heard the gospel, and changed to faith in Jesus and became a new person.
When Paul returned Onesimus, who had become a new person in the gospel, to his master Philemon, he wrote a letter of recommendation about him. In that letter, Paul came to refer to his changed appearance and his relationship with Paul. And Paul also asked Philemon to welcome and take care of Onesimus.
1) It is said that he was a son born in prison.
Like Paul, we too must bear many sons of faith. In our church, there are many families who have waited for a long time because there is no child, and then got a baby, but none of the families I know have had a baby for more than 10 years. The same is true spiritually. When you have a son of faith in the gospel, you are overflowing with indescribable joy. Even God is most pleased in heaven when a lost soul returns.
2) It used to be useless to you, but now it is recommended that it is beneficial to you and me.
The value of a person or thing is determined by how useful it is. If it is of no use and of no benefit, it is thrown into the trash. Even if the exterior is fine, and the like-new thing is broken inside, and the machine inside breaks down, it becomes useless and is thrown away in the trash. So are people. Even if he looks good and looks good, he has a bad inside and becomes a useless person if he gets sick.
3) I am saying that you are my henchman.
Who lives the happiest life? If God says to me, 'You are my servant,' that person is living the happiest life. Although Paul said so in today's text, it can be said that these words are as much as God expressed them through Paul. What does the word thugs mean? In the English Bible, it is translated as 'My very heart'. If your heart stops, you die. The heart never stops or works non-stop from birth to death. It is the most valuable part of our body. It means 'my beloved one'.
5) If he has done something wrong or owed anything, Paul himself is saying that he will pay it back. In the text, Paul's promise to repay Philemon if he owes it to him is like a Samaritan who asked the innkeeper for the stranger and said that he would pay it back if it cost more. In verse 8 and below, it is said that Paul could have commanded Philemon to do this, but rather, he prayed for love.
We can see Paul working for the reunification and reconciliation of Philemon and Onesimus. We Christians must always fulfill the mission of reconciliation, just as Jesus lived as a reconciler who reconciled God and man and man to man, always and everywhere. When Paul sent Onesimus back to Philemon, he was referring to the words, 'He was sent back to me and you, but now it is useful to you'. Onesimus was a useless servant in the past. But now it has become a truly beneficial species. Do you know what the name Onesimus means? It literally means 'beneficial'.
As Christians, we must be useful servants who can teach and preach at the risk of life without hesitation.
First, we must be useful servants to God.
In order to be a servant to God, we must live in glory at all times, without profaning or damaging the name of God. Whether you eat or drink, you are to please God and give him glory. 1 Corinthians 10:31 says, 'Therefore, whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God'.
Second, we must be useful servants for edification in the church.
We must live an exemplary life so that the church, the body of the Lord, is not insulted or obscured the light of the gospel because of me. To do so, I must live a church-centered life that puts the church's interests and virtues ahead of my personal interests. Knowing that destroying the church and making the church community difficult is destroying and hurting the body of Jesus Christ, it means being careful and serving with fear and trembling. In other words, we must serve the Church, the body of the Lord, as a good steward that God wants and is pleased with.
Third, we must be a useful servant in the world. We have to live a life that is a light and a salt in the community, whether at home, at work, or in the neighborhood. Where we live and work, we must live a life that gives off the fragrance of Christ. There are people who are very kind, kind, good, and godly in the church, but when they leave the church and enter work or society, they change into a very different person. There are church members who live in a completely different image. Church members who live with these two faces are not respected or influential in the world. You have no power to change the world. Such a person is viewed as hypocritical by the world. At that time, the glory of God is covered and the door of evangelism of the church is blocked.
Bacon said that in the world there are useless people who always play a destructive role in society like spiders, selfish people like ants who live only for themselves, and like bees there are people who benefit others and society. i think there is
One is Informed Christian.
He believes in Jesus, but only intellectually. There are many Christians in the world who believe in Jesus only with their heads. Without the experience of Born again, Jesus knew someone and led a formal life of faith only through knowledge. These Christians are powerless.
The second is Conformed Christian.
This means more than an intellectual belief, it means a stage of faith that confesses Jesus Christ as my Savior and Lord.
The third is Transformed Christian.
This stage refers to the stage of bringing about changes in life beyond the stage of not only knowing the truth of the gospel with one's head, but also accepting and confirming it voluntarily. Paul said in Romans 12:2, "Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may discern what is the will of God, which is good and pleasing and perfect."
I bless you all to become useful servants like Joseph, like Paul, and like Onesimus, whom everyone looks up to in this generation.