MAN (24)
[p. 396] MAN (24)
JT The brethren will notice that the epistle to Philemon is a complete epistle, that there are several persons involved in it, and yet it is a small portion of the Scriptures. At the same time the Spirit of God has recorded it for us and it is now a question of our being able happily and joyfully to speak together on the subject of the epistle. It is a complete subject by itself. It is important to mention this, for the epistle shows what a place brethren may have in the service of God. We may be very few outwardly yet we may have a very distinguished place, for heaven knows what there is. Ours is a day of small things, and this is one of the small epistles, but it has a remarkable place in the Scriptures.
ABP Would this epistle be classified as a Merarite epistle in that it has to do with persons rather than with doctrine?
JT Very good; persons who are held in great value and esteem. Paul is the first one mentioned; he is said to be “prisoner of Christ Jesus”; next is Timotheus who is called “the brother”; and then Philemon is said to be “the beloved” and a fellow-workman of Paul; and then the sister Apphia, who may be Philemon’s wife; and then Archippus “our fellow-soldier”; and then finally the assembly. It is “the assembly which is in thine house”. Think of that word! Philemon was important enough and in a position to have an assembly in his house. Some of us have had that great privilege. It is a very great privilege to have an assembly in one’s house.
Ques Would you say that by reason of the Spirit being in the saints the substance of christianity is seen in persons? The saints compose [p. 397] the assembly.
JT We do not want to leave out the word ‘assembly’ because that is where christianity is in the full sense, which is a very great matter; I have in mind that the word ‘assembly’ is used often by itself.
CEJ Do you suggest that to have the assembly in one’s house would require some peculiar qualifications such as were seen in Aquila and Priscilla and, as seen here, in Philemon?
JT Yes; Philemon is called “the beloved and our fellow-workman”. And the sister referred to was probably his wife. So that as man and wife they were devoted peculiarly to the service of God. It is a great matter to have such in our cities.
ABP Would it be expected that at three-day meetings when there are more places than usual where the saints break bread, the houses selected for the purpose would be those of brethren who are of good repute, who are supporting the truth and who have the confidence of the brethren?
JT Just so.
AR There is a footnote to the word ‘assembly’ in Exodus 12:3 which reads, “’Assembly’ is the congregation looked at as a moral whole, a corporate person before God”, Exodus 12:3.
JT That is Mr. Darby’s comment.
AR I am wondering if you will say something about it, for it has a very great place in your mind.
JT Well, it is the greatest thing on earth short of the Spirit of God Himself. The assembly is the abode of the Spirit of God, a wonderful thought; the Spirit of God is dwelling in the assembly.
ECG Do you distinguish between the breaking of bread in a house continually and one so arranged in the case of special meetings?
JT I would not attach too much importance to the latter; it is a matter of convenience.
[p. 398] Ques Is it your thought that though these persons whom Paul addresses are of the assembly and there was that which was distinctive about them, yet there is a distinction attaching to the assembly which cannot attach, in the same way, to the individuals?
JT Quite so; I would say that fully.
RWS There are certain names in this epistle that we cannot be too sure about. In Colossians 4:17 Paul has to say to Archippus, “Take heed to the ministry which thou hast received in the Lord, to the end that thou fulfil it”, Colossians 4:17. And in 2 Timothy 4:10, he says, “Demas has forsaken me, having loved the present age”, 2 Timothy 4:10.
JT Demas failed later but he was still in fellowship here.
RWS As coming to the end of our readings on the subject of Man should we not raise the enquiry if the features of manhood which have come before us during these past two years are marking us, so that we will remain in fellowship and grow in it?
JT That is so; but the persons here are commendable. Paul was genuine, the greatest servant of all, and he was a prisoner of Christ Jesus, a distinguished honour. Timotheus is next mentioned and he is called “the brother”. And then we have Philemon, spoken of as “the beloved and our fellow-workman”, and the sister who is evidently the wife of Philemon. So that the personnel is very important and has a marked place in the assembly, although seen in a local setting.
RWS I was thinking of the personalities in the assemblies in a dark day such as ours. I thought it would challenge each of us whether our participation in the fellowship becomes “operative in the acknowledgment of every good thing which is in us towards Christ Jesus”, as it says in verse 6. So that when we come to the end of the epistle we read in verse 23, “Epaphras salutes thee, my fellow-prisoner in Christ Jesus; Mark, Aristarchus, Demas, Luke, my fellow-workmen”, and we know that some of these did not remain as bright as they once were.
JT So that in such persons as are mentioned we are dealing with the personnel of the assembly; but then the assembly is mentioned by itself, and is said to be in the house of a brother: “The assembly which is in thine house”. That is the greatest thought, for apart from divine Persons the assembly, as a whole, is the greatest thought.
FHL Is Timothy an outstanding assembly man who was marked by true features of manhood, so that the apostle links himself with him in several of the epistles?
JT Very good.
AM Would you say that love and faith, as mentioned in verse 5, are two outstanding features of spiritual personality?
JT Very good.
AM Do these features mark spiritual persons in relation to their assembly settings? And should we be able to recognize these features and search ourselves as to whether they are seen in one another?
JT Exactly; love and faith are among the greatest features which can mark the saints. And then the Holy Spirit, of course, is in us.
Ques Did Paul have in mind the development of divine love in the assembly, in a constitutional way, and is the reception of Onesimus, in that way, a kind of pattern? He was to be received as a brother beloved, and should we not have that before us?
JT Onesimus was a recent convert, apparently, and Philemon and his wife were clearly brethren in whom the apostle had full confidence. It is a very great matter when we can mention a brother as having full confidence, generally, and his wife in full support.
[p. 400] Ques They seem to be samples, do they not? Timotheus is not merely a brother, but the brother; Philemon the beloved, Apphia the sister, and then the assembly.
JT The article distinguishes all that is said.
ANW Is it in the relationship of a brother that he is able to possess him fully for ever? It says “That thou mightest possess him fully for ever; not any longer as a bondman, but above a bondman, a beloved brother, specially to me, and how much rather to thee”.
JT It is a wonderful thought that Philemon was to possess him for ever. Think of a brother whom you know well, and love well, that you are going to possess him for ever! What a great fact this is!
GP Would it be a mark of manhood to promote love, to stimulate affection? Paul’s word here is, “for love’s sake I rather exhort”.
JT Very good. He would stimulate the affections.
Ques Why does it say our fellow-soldier rather than using the article ‘the?’ There are two such expressions: “our fellow-workman” and “our fellow-soldier”. These are two fine expressions. One is a workman doing things that will stand, and the soldier is defending it. The workman does the thing that will stand, but then it has to be defended and the soldier is to defend it.
EAL At the end of the epistle there are five fellow-workmen. Is it the idea of those who work in the assembly?
JT Yes; workmen are just persons who are doing things. The stress is not on men, but that they are work-men.
EAL As Paul wrote to Timothy: “Strive earnestly in the good conflict of faith”? 1 Timothy 6:12.
JT Just so; it will have to be defended because we are in the enemy’s land. It is a great matter,
[p. 401] when things are right and if they are of value we have to defend them.
JHE While building the wall in Nehemiah’s day they had a trowel in one hand and a sword in the other.
JT That is a very good example; building and defending.
EEH Verse 7 says, “For we have great thankfulness and encouragement through thy love, because the bowels of the saints are refreshed by thee, brother”. Would he refresh the bowels of the saints by ministry or by his affections?
JT By his affections, good feelings, feelings of affection. The bowels suggest a peculiar place of affection; it is not the heart but the bowels; it is the feelings and movement of affection and love. Philemon was highly regarded by Paul.
FNW Is there an order in verse 5? It says, “Thy love and the faith which thou hast towards the Lord Jesus, and towards all the saints”. The Lord Jesus is mentioned first. Is it important that we be right towards the Lord Jesus and then we will be in right relations with the saints?
JT The saints are to be first in our affections, next to the Lord Jesus Himself.
FNW
“Nor what is next Thy heart
Can we forget;
Thy saints, O Lord, with Thee
In glory met”. (160:8).
JT That is a wonderful statement by Mr. Darby.
CEJ So that Philemon would be universal in his love and faith towards all the saints. He would go beyond his own locality.
JT Yes, it would be towards all the saints. Philemon is in mind; the apostle is expressing his feelings about [p. 402] Philemon.
GB Does he have in mind the quality of his love and faith when he says, “In such sort that thy participation in the faith should become operative in the acknowledgment of every good thing”?
JT That would be the quality of the love and the faith that the brother had.
ATD I would like help as to faith “towards all the saints”.
JT Well, you know the brethren and you love them. It is not difficult to love, and love and faith are joined together, you might say, in one great idea in relation to the saints.
ECL Does brotherly love connect with the overcomer in Philadelphia and the preservation of life in the assembly?
JT I think it is just lovely to think of brethren like that; they give character to the whole position, as it says of Philemon — his love and faith towards the Lord Jesus, and towards all the saints.
JTJr Did manhood show itself in Paul when he took up the obligations of Onesimus in love and said, “I will repay”?
JT Very good; he was ready to pay, but he reminds Philemon that there was something due from him; but then he said, as it were, It is all to be worked out in love: “Refresh my bowels in Christ”.
VCL Is not this a model letter? There may be much letter writing, but this model letter takes account of everything that is positive in the brethren, and makes the most of it in love.
JT Quite so.
AAT According to Colossians it would seem that Philemon and Onesimus were Colossian saints. It says in chapter 4:9, “Onesimus, the faithful and beloved brother, who is one of you”, Colossians 4:9.
JT It would seem so; and Onesimus is called a faithful and beloved brother. You could not say [p. 403] anything much greater than that about a brother. It is beautiful!
FW Is there a distinctive feature of manhood in Paul’s saying, “I rather exhort, being such a one as Paul the aged, and now also prisoner of Jesus Christ”?
JT Yes; he is in full liberty and is not ashamed to speak of himself. Some may say that he is talking about himself, but Paul was unique. There was no one like him on earth, outside of divine Persons. “Such a one as Paul the aged”; I think that is wonderful! What Paul must have been! What he was as an old man! He did not live to be very old, yet he was an old man, and he calls himself “the aged”. I think it is wonderful that he could thus speak of himself.
FW Would it be allowable to impart the idea of his fatherhood into this? Would he take the liberty of a father?
JT Well, quite so. He exhorts for “my child”, but he does it as “such a one as Paul the aged”. I suppose there is none like him in the universe, except divine Persons. So that we may proceed: “I exhort thee for my child, whom I have begotten in my bonds, Onesimus, once unserviceable to thee, but now serviceable to thee and to me: whom I have sent back to thee: but do thou receive him, that is, my bowels:” (remarkable expression, referring to inward feelings), “whom I was desirous of keeping with myself, that for thee he might minister to me in the bonds of the glad tidings; but I have wished to do nothing without thy mind, that thy good might not be as of necessity but of willingness; for perhaps for this reason he has been separated from thee for a time, that thou mightest possess him fully for ever”. I think it is glorious that brethren can speak in that way to one another. I would like the brethren [p. 404] to take notice of that. It is the way we can speak of and to one another.
Ques The apostle could speak of Mark as being serviceable to him for the ministry. Is this feature of serviceability to be cultivated that we might be serviceable in the testimony and to one another?
JT Yes, but the chapter proceeds further, “Not any longer as a bondman, but above a bondman, a beloved brother”. I want the brethren to notice that, “a beloved brother”.
JTJr A change had taken place in Onesimus, he was once unserviceable but now serviceable. Paul discerns that he is now serviceable to Philemon.
Ques Does the thought of a beloved brother go right through to heaven?
JT Certainly; “for ever” must involve that; “possess him fully for ever”. That must be for heaven; that is what we are going into and it is good to think of it and be ready for it. I think that the three-day meetings we have just had are a good sample of what can be found in heaven. The brethren become accustomed to be in heaven at such times. We are not to be strangers to it.
“There no stranger-God shall meet thee —
Stranger thou in courts above! —
He, who to His rest shall greet thee,
Greets thee with a well-known love”. (76:10)
I think we may well add that to what has been said. It is another example of Mr. Darby’s wonderful poetry.
AR So that when we get to heaven it will not only be a question of knowing divine Persons, but of how we know the saints.
JT Very good.
FHL Onesimus would have been a slave, I suppose, but Paul speaks now of the bonds of the [p. 405] glad tidings. There is a contrast between the bonds of the glad tidings and his bondmanship as a slave.
JT Quite so.
ABP Would the details of this epistle be like a practical working out of the Lord’s parable in Luke 10? The Samaritan resuscitated the half dead man and brought him to a sphere where he would be cared for, and Paul is doing that for Onesimus.
JT Say more.
ABP Well, the Samaritan gave the innkeeper two pence, saying, “Whatsoever thou shalt expend more, I will render to thee”, Luke 10:35. It is like Paul’s word: “I will repay”. There is much in the epistle which seems to fit into the spirit of the neighbourly feelings which come out so strikingly in Luke 10.
JT Just so.
CAM Paul says, in Romans 1:9, that he served God in his spirit in the glad tidings. This epistle seems to be a good example of that.
JT Quite so.
JTJr Paul had great influence over persons, a right influence; he could work with Philemon and he could work with Onesimus, and bring them both together in true brotherly love.
JT So he says, “I Paul ...”, as though to bring himself before Philemon: “I Paul have written it with mine own hand”; I think it is very beautiful the free way in which the great apostle could speak. And then he says, “I will repay it”. The actual wording in the original is, ‘I will repay’ — a stronger word than “I will repay it”, for it is a general thought. And then he adds, “That I say not to thee that thou owest even thine own self also to me”. It is remarkable that he should be so free, and then to say, “Yea, brother, I would have profit of thee in the Lord: refresh my bowels in Christ. Being confident of thine obedience, I have written to thee, knowing that thou wilt do even more than I say. But withal prepare me also a lodging”.
[p. 406] What happy liberty! The apostle is free to ask this brother to prepare a lodging for him. This kind of thing promotes love among ourselves.
HF The thought of recovery is prominent in regard to Onesimus, “once unserviceable to thee, but now serviceable to thee and to me”. The present phase of recovery in the assembly is an important one.
JT Indeed it is, we all feel that.
HD Is it not important to see the place that Paul’s prayers had in all this?
JT Wonderful; and it is wonderful that the apostle should be so free to speak to his brother in this way. It should encourage us in the terms on which we should speak to one another, and speak of one another, too.
JCT Is not the word ‘partner’, as used in verse 17, a very touching expression?
JT It is; it is a peculiarly close relationship in responsibility, especially when it is worked out from what we call the fellowship. A similar use of the word occurs in Luke 5:10.
Ques Is the debt referred to here financial?
JT It is financial, clearly so. A remarkable thing that Paul should take on financial matters! and he said that he was ready to pay.
ECL Does Paul’s reference to the partner show that he would view Philemon as having manhood features in the assembly?
JT I would think so. But to proceed, he says, “Being confident of thine obedience, I have written to thee, knowing that thou wilt do even more than I say. But withal prepare me also a lodging”. Now I think that is very beautiful. Paul might say that he would surely give him a bed, but it is more than that; the lodging is to be prepared.
[p. 407] Ques The Lord has gone to prepare a place for us, has He not?
JT Very good.
RWS Is there a further thought in verse 22? It says, “for I hope that I shall be granted to you through your prayers”. A brother who is needed and loved may be kept amongst us because of the prayers of the saints.
JT I was thinking of that and of how free the apostle was to speak of himself. He knows the qualities that marked him as serving the Lord and he was free to speak of them. “I hope that I shall be granted to you”, he says, as though to confer the great privilege of being granted to him — that is to say, to Philemon.
Ques Do the deep feelings expressed in this chapter and the devotedness of love one towards another spring out of the suffering position?
JT Very good; “To you has been given, as regards Christ, not only the believing on him but the suffering for him also”, Philippians 1:29.
AM Does this letter show the peculiar value of collecting the letters of those who have been in the lead among us? Is it not a great service to the saints, as impressing upon us their personalities and value in the testimony? I refer to brothers like Mr. Darby, Mr. Stoney, Mr. Raven, Mr. Coates, and others. Is this not a peculiarly valuable service, apart from their teaching, as it gives the personal side as distinct from but supportive of the teaching?
Rem Paul did not wait for an invitation; the liberty of brotherly love is seen in that he asks that it be prepared for him.
JT We might consider how we would prepare for Paul if he were to call upon us today.
HL We may be tested as to the way in which we receive a brother such as Onesimus in the stead of Paul.