The Epistle to Philemon
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Introduction[i]
The
very beautiful and interesting Epistle to Philemon does not require much
comment; it is an expression of the love which works by the Spirit within the assembly
of God in all the circumstances of individual life.
Written
for the purpose of awakening in Philemon sentiments which certain events had a
tendency to extinguish in his heart, this epistle is suited to produce those
feelings in the reader more than to be the object of explanation.
It
is a fine picture of the way in which the tenderness and the strength of the
love of God, working in the heart, occupies itself with every detail wherein
that love might be wounded, or that might be an occasion for its growth and
manifestation. In this point of view the epistle is as important as beautiful;
for this development of tender and delicate consideration in the midst of the
apostle¹s gigantic labours, and of the immense truths that formed the basis of
relationship between all creatures and God in Christ, gives a very peculiar
character to Christianity and shews its divine nature; since He who reveals the
most profound truths, and puts them in their right place in the circle of
divine thought, does so as speaking of a known thing, as communicating His own
thoughts; and can (being the Spirit of the God of love) fill the heart with
considerations which love only can suggest, with a dignity which manifests
their source, and with a delicacy of application which shews that, whatever be
the grandeur of His thoughts, He is at liberty to consider everything.
When
the human mind is occupied with elevated subjects, it feels their weight, and
bends under the load; it is absorbed; it has to abstract itself, to fix its
attention. God reveals His own thoughts; and, vast as they may be to the human
mind, they flow with the clearness and connectedness that is natural to them,
when he communicates them by His chosen instruments. The latter are free to
love; for the God who employs them and inspires them is love. It is a more
essential part of their task to present Him thus, than even to speak of the
deep things. Accordingly, when they are moved by that love, the character of
Him who sends them is demonstrated as that of the God who is the source of
love, by a perfect consideration for others, and the most delicate attention to
those things which their hearts would feel.
Moreover this love develops itself in relationships formed by the Holy Ghost Himself, between the members of the body of Christ, that is to say, between men. Springing from a divine source, and always fed b y it, Christian affections assume the form of human regard, which by exhibiting love and the opposite of selfishness, bear the stamp of their origin. Love, free from self, can and does think of all that concerns others and understands what will affect them.