Daily Devotions
Philemon
"The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit. Amen."
Text: Philemon 25
THE GIFT OF TRUE AND TRUSTED FRIENDS
Surely one of the most precious of blessings from God is the gift of good friends. Paul and Philemon had a number of friends in common. These had sent their greetings to Philemon.
“Epaphras, my fellow prisoner in Christ Jesus, greets you,
as do Mark, Aristarchus, Demas, Luke, my fellow labourers.
The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit. Amen.”
Philemon 23-25
1. A short list of friends
a) This list is by no means exhaustive.
b) What then does this list represent?
i) These were friends Paul and Philemon had in common.
ii) These were friends who were with Paul at that point of time.
2. “Epaphras”
a) He was in prison with Paul.
b) He shared the same spirit with Paul.
c) He too was able to send greetings to Philemon despite being in jail.
3. “Fellow labourers” mentioned
a) Mark (The gospel writer)
b) Aristarchus
c) Demas (At this point of time Demas was a fellow labourer. In the process of time, Demas forsook the apostle Paul in favour of the world – 2 Timothy 4:10.)
d) Luke (The medical doctor-historian who wrote The Gospel of Luke and the Book of Acts.)
4. “The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit. Amen”
a) Once again the word “grace” was consciously applied.
i) Grace brought about salvation.
ii) Grace resulted in the blessing of great friendship and fellowship.
iii) Grace is needed to keep our very spirit faithful and steadfast in the Lord.
b) Paul ended his personal letter to Philemon with a tender benediction for Philemon.
It was quite normal for Paul to conclude his letters with a word of blessing.
The grace of God brought about salvation and an outstanding friendship exhibited by Paul and Philemon!