Brotherhood
During the Band of Brothers Camp we focussed on elements of Brotherhood in Christ. These notes based on Paul's letter to Philemon:
Elements of Brotherhood in Christ
Phm 1:1 Paul, a prisoner of Christ Jesus, and Timothy our brother, To Philemon our beloved friend and fellow laborer,
Timothy was a son in the Gospel and now Paul calls him brother. There is a progressive relationship between Brothers in Christ.
True Friends in Christ – well accepted in the Beloved Church, work at the same things together.
Phm 1:2 to the beloved Apphia, Archippus our fellow soldier, and to the church in your house:
The Spiritual Fight is real and you need to know who loves you and who is against you.
Apostles Wrote letters to Household Churches. They were considered important enough to contact via correspondence.
Phm 1:3 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Apostolic Greeting carries weight in the spirit if you receive an apostle in the name of an apostle. It is from God Our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ who calls them.
Phm 1:4 I thank my God, making mention of you always in my prayers,
Apostles pray without ceasing and people they work with are in their prayers.
Phm 1:5 hearing of your love and faith which you have toward the Lord Jesus and toward all the saints,
Love and Faith is a good testimony, people will hear about our love and faith too!
Phm 1:6 that the sharing of your faith may become effective by the acknowledgment of every good thing which is in you in Christ Jesus.
We can share what we believe more effectively when we realize what good things Jesus has placed in us and who we are in Christ Jesus.
Phm 1:7 For we have great joy and consolation in your love, because the hearts of the saints have been refreshed by you, brother.
Love brings joy and consolation and times of refreshing come from the presence of the Lord.
Phm 1:8 Therefore, though I might be very bold in Christ to command you what is fitting,
Apostles have the right to command things spiritually, but here Apostle Paul invokes a deeper authority based on mutual submission and love. If you know what’s in my heart – look how experienced I am and how I am locked up for Jesus – hear me out about Onesimus.
Phm 1:9 yet for love's sake I rather appeal to you—being such a one as Paul, the aged, and now also a prisoner of Jesus Christ—
Phm 1:10 I appeal to you for my son Onesimus, whom I have begotten while in my chains,
A new son is introduced into the band of brothers! He is still on his journey to be received and accepted in the Beloved.
Phm 1:11 who once was unprofitable to you, but now is profitable to you and to me.
There is a history behind every name. But Jesus has wiped out the handwriting of requirements against us, as the old apostle is doing for this guy. There is a play on the meaning of the name: Onesimus: 3682 3685 meaning profitable, to derive pleasure from and have an advantage from…
Phm 1:12 I am sending him back. You therefore receive him, that is, my own heart,
Ah the sent one – before he went, now he was sent! An apostolic quality needed in the Band of Brothers.
In order to have email you need to send and receive! We need to understand the dynamics of both apostolic actions for the brotherhood to grow. God sent the prodigal back and the father received him, but the home brother struggled.
Phm 1:13 whom I wished to keep with me, that on your behalf he might minister to me in my chains for the gospel.
Paul shows how profitable he could have been with him and now relinquishes that profit on behalf of Philemon again. Profit sharing amongst the brothers.
Phm 1:14 But without your consent I wanted to do nothing, that your good deed might not be by compulsion, as it were, but voluntary.
Depth of Brotherhood in Christ requires consent versus compulsion.
Psa 110:3 Your people shall be volunteers In the day of Your power;
Volunteer comes from the word “Willing” H5071 nedâbâh ned-aw-baw'
From H5068; properly (abstractly) spontaneity, or (adjectively) spontaneous; also (concretely) a spontaneous or (by inference, in plural) abundant gift: – free (-will) offering, freely, plentiful, voluntary (-ily, offering), willing (-ly, offering). Strong’s Concordance.
Phm 1:15 For perhaps he departed for a while for this purpose, that you might receive him forever,
Departures and Arrivals; Orbits in life. The fish that you are catching let him go for a while and then reel him back in. He’ll come around and eventually he will be part of the brotherhood forever!
Phm 1:16 no longer as a slave but more than a slave—a beloved brother, especially to me but how much more to you, both in the flesh and in the Lord.
Status change from slave to brother is important. Jesus is the Firstborn among many brethren.
Phm 1:17 If then you count me as a partner, receive him as you would me.
Spiritual Partnership includes trust and transference of disciples from one Church to another.
Phm 1:18 But if he has wronged you or owes anything, put that on my account.
Forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors. Jesus puts our sins on His account and pays the redemption price for our freedom. Thank You Jesus!
Phm 1:19 I, Paul, am writing with my own hand. I will repay—not to mention to you that you owe me even your own self besides.
God told me “Godly correspondence is the key to nations” and we have seen many a nation open up because of an email in the last few years.
Here the Apostle draws on the memory banks of his disciple Philemon and reminds him how he was helped spiritually.
Phm 1:20 Yes, brother, let me have joy from you in the Lord; refresh my heart in the Lord.
That joy is in believing that Philemon will do the right thing.
Web sites need a refresh button to be updated. Brotherhood in Christ needs a refresh button too, a regular refreshment of the relationship with regular correspondence and support both ways.
Phm 1:21 Having confidence in your obedience, I write to you, knowing that you will do even more than I say.
There comes a time where we can trust Christ within our brothers and be confident in their obedience to the Holy Spirit within, this is absolutely vital in order to establish the kingdom of God in hearts and minds.
Phm 1:22 But, meanwhile, also prepare a guest room for me, for I trust that through your prayers I shall be granted to you.
Look up instances in the Bible where a guest room was prepared for men of God. Have you ever hosted a man of God in your house? Are you prepared? He needs s bed, a table and chair with a lamp so that he can study the Word. Simple meals are fine.. True men of God are not demanding. Feed them first and your provision will not run out. Hospitality is a special grace. Treat men and women of God like angels – you never know!
This letter was written about the same time as the letters to the churches inEphesusand Colosse, approximately A.D.60. During that time Paul was imprisoned for the first period in Rome, under house arrest. So Apostle Paul believed he would be set free. Philemon was a wealthy Greek landowner who lived in Colosse. He had accepted Christ during Paul's ministry there. The Colossian church met in his house. Paul was actually released shortly after he had written this letter to Philemon. It is not clear, whether he visited Colosse again, as there is no reference to such a journey. (MBC Manual “Apostolic Epistles II”)
Phm 1:23 Epaphras, my fellow prisoner in Christ Jesus, greets you,
Epaphras had founded the church in Colosse (Col 1:7) and also had been imprisoned.
Phm 1:24 as do Mark, Aristarchus, Demas, Luke, my fellow laborers.
More trusted brothers greeted.
Phm 1:25 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit. Amen.
Become part of the Brotherhood of Christ in your local Church today!