{"id":18749,"date":"2021-11-25T22:00:44","date_gmt":"2021-11-26T05:00:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/philemon-1_8-16-copy\/"},"modified":"2021-11-18T23:57:15","modified_gmt":"2021-11-19T06:57:15","slug":"philemon-1_17-25","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/philemon-1_17-25\/","title":{"rendered":"He Put Himself on the Line for You"},"content":{"rendered":"

Philemon 1:17-25\u00a0\u00a0Click here for Bible Verses<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Hi GAMErs,<\/p>\n

Today\u2019s passage is Philemon 1:17-25.\u00a0\u00a0Let\u2019s go!<\/p>\n

Philemon 1:17-19 (NIV)\u00a0<\/strong>
\n17\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0So if you consider me a partner, welcome him as you would welcome me.
\n18\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0If he has done you any wrong or owes you anything, charge it to me.
\n19\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0I, Paul, am writing this with my own hand. I will pay it back–not to mention that you owe me your very self.<\/em><\/p>\n

On verses 17-19:\u00a0\u00a0Earlier in verses 8 to 16 we saw Paul acting as a mediator between Philemon and Onesimus, trying to help Philemon and Onesimus reconcile with one another.\u00a0\u00a0But here in these verses we see Paul going beyond what a typical mediator would do.\u00a0\u00a0For while a mediator\u2019s role is help two warring sides reach an agreement, a mediator normally does not sacrifice himself just so that the two sides can reconcile.\u00a0\u00a0But that\u2019s what Paul does.\u00a0\u00a0Paul writes in verses\u00a017-18,\u00a0\u201c<\/strong>So if you consider me a partner, welcome him as you would welcome me.\u00a0\u00a0If he has done you any wrong or owes you anything, charge it to me.\u201d To emphasize how serious he is about this, Paul even takes his secretary Timothy\u2019s pen and writes these words himself on the scroll: \u201cI will pay it back\u201d (v19).<\/p>\n

What is Paul doing?\u00a0 He’s putting himself on the line, sacrificing his own reputation and financial well-being, all so that Philemon would forgive Onesimus and take him back.<\/p>\n

Where did Paul learn such loving self-sacrifice? From Jesus Christ.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0When we had sinned against God, when the punishment we deserved for our sin was death and separation from God, Jesus took that punishment for us.\u00a0\u00a0All the wrongs we had done and all the debts we owed God were charged to Jesus.\u00a0\u00a0Jesus put himself on the line and sacrificed himself all so that the debt we owed God would be canceled, so that we could be forgiven and reconciled to God.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0More than being our mediator, Jesus is the sacrificial lamb who makes our forgiveness possible.<\/strong><\/p>\n

I love how Paul uses this real life situation to show both Philemon and Onesimus how knowing and following Jesus can make all the difference when there are problems in our relationships.\u00a0\u00a0May you too be a peacemaker who shows those around you who Jesus is by your actions and words.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Philemon 1:20-22 (NIV)\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>
\n20\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0I do wish, brother, that I may have some benefit from you in the Lord; refresh my heart in Christ.
\n21\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Confident of your obedience, I write to you, knowing that you will do even more than I ask.
\n22\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0And one thing more: Prepare a guest room for me, because I hope to be restored to you in answer to your prayers.<\/em><\/p>\n

On verses 19b-25:\u00a0\u00a0Here Paul reminds Philemon of their special relationship: how it was through Paul\u2019s ministry that Philemon found eternal life in Jesus Christ (thus Paul\u2019s words in v19b \u2013 \u201cYou owe me your very self\u201d).\u00a0\u00a0In asking Philemon to forgive and take back Onesimus, Paul is reminding Philemon, \u201cRemember, buddy, you owe me!\u201d\u00a0\u00a0He expresses confidence that Philemon will go even beyond what Paul has asked (v21).<\/p>\n

Finally, Paul ends his letter by doing three things:<\/p>\n

\u00b7\u00a0First, he asks Philemon to prepare a room for him (v22).\u00a0\u00a0This points to Paul\u2019s ongoing friendship with Philemon as well as Paul\u2019s faith that he will be released from prison soon. It also reminds me that we should make room for Jesus in our daily lives as we await His return.<\/p>\n

\u00b7\u00a0Second, Paul tells Philemon how many of their mutual friends say hi (v23-24).<\/p>\n

\u00b7\u00a0Third, Paul prays a blessing over Philemon\u2019s life (v25).<\/p>\n

What can we learn from this?\u00a0\u00a0It\u2019s in real relationships and doing life together with other brothers and sisters in Christ that we experience God\u2019s love.<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0Most likely you didn\u2019t come to Christ on your own, but God used another person to lead you to Him.\u00a0\u00a0Without their friendship, their prayers, their leadership or their presence in your life, you would not have experienced God\u2019s love the way you have.\u00a0\u00a0That\u2019s why being committed to a good church community is so important<\/strong>, for it\u2019s there in the middle of real life and real relationships that we get to practice the love of God with one another.<\/p>\n

Take a minute to thank God for the Pauls in your life, those whom God has used to lead you to Christ, to teach you His Word and to model God\u2019s love so that you can experience more of Him.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Heavenly Father, thank You for sending Jesus Christ to be my sacrificial lamb, so that my sins could be forgiven, my debts canceled, and I could be reconciled to You.\u00a0\u00a0Thank You also for sending \u201cPaul\u2019s\u201d in my life, for using them to lead me to You, to show me who You are and to demonstrate what following You is all about.\u00a0\u00a0Use me to be a Paul to others.\u00a0\u00a0In Jesus\u2019 name, AMEN!<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div><\/section><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hi GAMErs,<\/p>\n

Today\u2019s passage is Philemon 1:17-25.\u00a0\u00a0Let\u2019s go!<\/p>\n

Philemon 1:17-19 (NIV)\u00a0
\n17\u00a0\u00a0So if you consider me a partner, welcome him as you would welcome me.\u00a0
\n18\u00a0\u00a0If he has done you any wrong or owes you anything, charge it to me.\u00a0
\n19\u00a0\u00a0I, Paul, am writing this with my own hand. I will pay it back–not to mention that you owe me your very self.<\/p>\n

On verses 17-19:\u00a0\u00a0Earlier in verses 8 to 16 we saw Paul acting as a mediator between Philemon and Onesimus, trying to help Philemon and Onesimus reconcile with one another.\u00a0\u00a0But here in these verses we see Paul going beyond what a typical mediator would do.\u00a0\u00a0For while a mediator\u2019s role is help two warring sides reach an agreement, a mediator normally does not sacrifice himself just so that the two sides can reconcile.\u00a0\u00a0But that\u2019s what Paul does.\u00a0\u00a0Paul writes in verses\u00a017-18,\u00a0\u201cSo if you consider me a partner, welcome him as you would welcome me.\u00a0\u00a0If he has done you any wrong or owes you anything, charge it to me.\u201d To emphasize how serious he is about this, Paul even takes his secretary Timothy\u2019s pen and writes these words himself on the scroll: \u201cI will pay it back\u201d (v19).\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

What is Paul doing?\u00a0 He’s putting himself on the line, sacrificing his own reputation and financial well-being, all so that Philemon would forgive Onesimus and take him back.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":18752,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-18749","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-gametime-sharing"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18749","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18749"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18749\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18750,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18749\/revisions\/18750"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/18752"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18749"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18749"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18749"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}