Our last portion in Philemon: verse 17-25

v17: Paul is appealing to Philemon to treat Onesimus in the way Philemon would treat Paul if he went to his house.

v18: Paul was willing to pay, out of his own resources, for any outstanding debt that Onesimus may have owed to Philemon.

v19: Paul was instrumental in leading Philemon to faith, to becoming a new creation and, therefore, to an inheritance of eternal life.

v20: Paul was confident that Philemon, realising his indebtedness, was going to do the right thing and bring about joy and refreshment to Paul.

v21: Paul encouraged Philemon to even go above and beyond the expectations Paul was placing on him. Why? Because Paul was convinced that Philemon was a true believer and that is how true believers behave.

v22: Paul is hoping to get out of prison and visit Philemon. Paul’s intent in visiting Philemon wasn’t just for Paul to receive from Philemon, but the implication in this verse is that Paul would visit to be a blessing (an answer to prayer) – Paul would visit for the purpose of helping Philemon to grow, to move the church forward into the will of G-d.

v23: Paul was not alone in prison. Epaphras (see Colossians 4:12-13) was also there.

v24: Paul was also surrounded by these people. He had a supportive body of men around him – fellow servants, fellow believers. (See Acts 24:23)

· Aristarchus was a Macedonian from Thessalonica – he accompanied Paul on the voyage to Rome (Acts 27:2)

v25: Whenever “L-rd” is mentioned it should remind us that we are servants of THIS incredible master. We are indebted to Him, and we need to behave in a way that demonstrates His L-rdship in our lives.

· Amen is a word of truth, a word of faith and a word of belief. What Paul and Timothy have written about needs to be taken to heart and heeded by all believers as they have spoken truth