___ -
mi
i.For Sundmyf-
June 11
By Dr. Paul Caudill
Losaon For Jwe 11
' Tovie: THE OUTBREAK OF
' CHRISTIAN BROTHERHOOD
Lmmob Text; Philemon 4-21
; 'Hie letter to Phijemon is "the
only distinctly personal one” that
has come to us from Paul- It is
the only one of “a mainly ^mvate
character”. While we have Paul’s
letters to Timothy and Titus, it
will be remembered that each of
them has to do with church prob
lems and doctrinal issues (Rob
ertson, whereas Philemon, like
John’s epistle to Gaius, is con
cerned more especially with pure
ly personal matters. Philemon
lived in Colossae, along: with Arch-
ippus (Col. 4:17), and Paul is
writing him in connection with a
runaway slave by the name of
Cnesimtis, who belonged to Phile
mon and who likewise lived at Col
ossae. Paul evidently found Ones-
imus in Rome, and, after leading
him to Christ, sends him back to
his earthly master, seeking, at the
same time to reconcile him to his
master and to make restitution for
whatever he might owe his mas
ter. It is a beautiful story, tender
and affectionate, and has within it
the germ seeds of freedom and
brotherhood for all men in slavery
—the world around.
THE JOYS OF CHRISTI.AN
BROTHERHOOD
Philemon 4-7
Following the salutation, our
epistle opens with a gloriou.s pic
ture of the joys of Christian
brotherhood. Says Paul: "I thank
my God always, making mention
of Thee in my prayers, hearing of
Thy love, and of Thy faith, which
Thou has toward the Lerd Jesus,
and toward all the saints; that the
fellowship of Thy faith may be
come effectual, in the knowledge
of every good thing which is in
you, unto Christ. For I had much
joy and comfort in Thy love, be
cause the hearts of the saints have
been refreshed through Thee,
brother”. It will be noted that
Paul is a prisoner, as he writes
the.se words. Whether or not he
writes with a “nienacled” hand,
we do not know, but the word
“prusoner” which he u.ses (v. 1)
signifies one “bound”, a "captive”,
one "in chain*”. At any rate.
Paul is bold to say thatin his
days of imprisonment, he finds
joy and coonforf in the love of
Philemon. IRie joys of Christian
brotherhiod help to sustain him
during his hours of confinement-
When one considers the character
of Philemon, it is not difficult to
understand-why Paul found joy in
his love. To begin with, Philemon
was active worker in the chnrch
as Colossae. We know this from
the expression “fellow-worker” in
the salutation (the term literally
means “co-worker”). Here was a
church member who iras wide
awake and at work, and that with
others—he was a co-worker. The
trouble with a lot of church mem
bers lies in the fact that there is
not enough “co” in their labors.
They want to be the whole show,
or not at all" Moreover, Philemon
had a good case of the love way of
life (see I Cor. 13), and the right
kind of faith “towards the Lord
Jesus”. From verse 2, we see that
Christians were accustomed to
gathering in Philemon’s house for
worship. “In large cities there
would be several meeting-iplace's.
Before the third century there is
no certain evidence of s,-ecial
church buildings for worship (Rob
ertson). (See Acts 12:12 for a
similar use of Mary’s house in Je
rusalem, and Romans 16:5 for the
house of Aquila and Priscilla in
Rome). Such a brotherhood as
that which existed between Paul
and Philemon vms bound to have
its compensations—its joys. It
always has—it always will!
'on
«gidn I CbK"3.«^ Eoro,la
by' Paul as the ground or
for his poaitioo- It ia h»va tnat
conies in betwsen him and his Act.
And this kind of ioro to which he
refers is that lofty, exalted tore—
the kind of Jove that flows from
God to man, and from man to God,
and from man to man in Jeeus
(2irist. Only this exalted form of
love could make It possible for
him to take the step he was taking
in returning Onesimus to his
earthly master. The present sta
tus of Onesimus was that of ^ a
runaway slave. Paul wanted him
to returti to his rightful master
‘‘no longer as a servant, but more
than a servant, a brother beloved,
specially to me, but how much
rather to Thee, both in the flesh
and in ‘ the ,Jx)rd”. Paul sends
Onesimus, the coilverted runaway
slave, back to hia legal master,
but shows that he expects Phile
mon the Christian to'trust Onest-
mus as a brother in Christ, not as
a slave. If he could only accom
plish this- he would deliver a mas
ter stroke. He would plant the
seeds of brotherhood that would
boldly point for Christian brother
hood. If men are to become broth
ers in this war-weary world, then
they must learn the practic^
meaning of Christian love. Their
brotherhood, if it exists at all, will
be for love’s sake, as was Paul’s.
And Christian love is possible on
ly when men know Jesus Christ as
Savior, Redeemer, and Cleanser
from sin.
Cham|]^n 0wb In
Meeting For June 1
tta .
H. Os«ae M-
Helen Price, assis-
tg&t 'luM* They demou-
m^odt vfa ckh-‘
ninx. ualoi^ prmtire-cooker and
hot*Vater bath;: ‘M». Orewe
plained the dltterent, types of cans
and can llda and hov to use them, ,.
and gave each' member book.jetii
on--'- canning and drying meatbV
fmlta, and vegetables: The club’s
secretory has moved away and we
elected Mrs. Brace Milee as secre
tory for the reet of the year.
The club has taken over the Mt.
Pleasant cemetery and-will work
on the cemetery each Wednesday
afternoon.
Tile July meeting will be held
at the lunch room at 2:00 o’clock.
—Reported.
V-
r#
THE
Hatchery Will Open
On Ronda and Elkin
Highway; Sell Feed
Walls Hatchery, to be owned
and operated by O. P. Walls, Is
being constructed on highway
268 3 1-2 miles west of Elkin.
The new hatchery will have a
capacity of 28,000 eggs and a pro
duction of 24,000 chicks monthly
Is anticipated^ Mr. Walls has
several years experience in poul
try business.
The hatchery will sell poultry
feed, supplies and remedies.
II
Jew
k
THE BASIS OF CHRISTIAN
BROTHERHOOD
Philemon 8:16
What is the basis for this spirit
of brotherhood that existed be
tween Paul and Philemon? From
what did it stem? Is it the prod
uct of sheer chance? It is not.
It is derived from a mutual fellow
ship in Jesus. That is to say, both
Paul and Philemon knew Jesus
Christ a.s Saviour and Lord. They
both had more than a passing ac
quaintance with Him. The bold
ness that Paul has in approaching
Philemon about the restoration of
his unprofitable,'runaway slave is
THE- TEST OF CHRISTIAN
BROTHERHOOD
Philemon 17-20
Paul closes his appeal to Phile
mon by demonstrating in his own
life the true quality of Christian
love- He offers to settle with his
own means any bad debts or obli
gations that Onesimus may have
incurred before running away;
“But if he hath wronged thee at
all, or oweth thee aught, put that
to mine account; I Paul write it
with mine own hand, I will repay
I it: that I say unto thee that thou
owest to me even thine own self
besides. Yea, brother, let me have
joy in the Lord: refresh my heart
in Christ”. It took real courage
on the part of Paul to write such
words as these, but he was not
afraid. If he could be used to re
store Onesimus in the confidence
of Philemon, and to open up the
way for g nobler concept of human
relations, he would be willing to
pay any price that might be de
manded of him. In other words,
he was willing for his own broth
erhood to be put to the acid test
of practical experience. The divi
dends in human relations would be
worth the cost, whatever it might
be. “These words”, says A. T.
Robertson, “sound in Christian
countries and there are still mil
lions of slaves in pagan and Mo
hammedan lands. Paul wrote the
words with wisdom and courage
and sincerity.
If Paul was put to the test of
Christian brotherhood in his day,
how much more are we today!
Surely, we who know Christ must
seek, as never before, in the wake
of this tragic war, to manifest a
spirit of true brotherhood—^we
who are Christ’s. And we must
strive to have an outreach that
will touch life at its neediest
points—here at the earth where
we live . . . here and now!
ON#HE HOME FJDNT,
T his is llgThis is the big push
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