"I Remember You in My Prayers"

“Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.. I thank my God always when I remember you in my prayers, I hear of your love and of the faith that you have toward the Lord Jesus and for all the saints, and I pray that the sharing of your faith may become effective for the full knowledge of every good thing that is in us for the sake of Christ.” (Philemon vv. 3-6 ESV)

 As we discussed in the introduction to this very personal letter from the Apostle Paul, who was under house arrest in Rome, to his dear friend Philemon living in Colossae, this letter is a bit different from Paul’s regular letters addressed to the entire church of a particular area, like Ephesus, Philippi, or Colossae. This letter is personal between an older saint who has been called directly by our Lord Jesus to be an Apostle to the Gentiles and to one of those Gentiles, Philemon.

I love Paul’s introductions to his letters; he always starts with such a positive note, making sure his readership knows just how much he loves them in the Lord, that they are constantly on his mind, and that he personally holds them up before the Lord in prayer. That’s what he says in verse 4, “I thank my God always, making mention of you in my prayers, because I hear of your love, and of the faith which you have toward the Lord Jesus, and toward all the saints;”. Could you imagine how it would make you feel if someone said those words about you? There is no reason that they couldn’t, you know. Philemon was no “super saint”; he was just a man who loved our Jesus and loved his Christian brothers and sisters. That’s all it takes to be a blessing to others, to just love our Lord Jesus and his people. You and I can do that; we can put aside our differences long enough to praise our Lord and Savior and to assist one another along this earthly journey.

I think that is what the writer of Hebrews meant in 10:24-25 when he said, “and let us consider how to stimulate (provoke in KJV) one another to love and good deeds, not forsaking our own assembling together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another; and all the more, as you see the day drawing near.” For many years I always heard it preached that this verse was an exhortation for believers to attend church services regularly (like every time the doors are open). It was presented as a “command” that we must keep if we are to stay in the good graces of our Savior. Now, I agree entirely that believers need to be around other believers who share the same love for the Lord as they do. However, I think the main thrust of verses 24-25 is that as believers we need to “stimulate one another to love and good works”.

This is what Philemon was doing with the church that met in his and his wife’s house (vv. 1-2): he was encouraging all the believers to love our Lord and one another. Paul knew this, and he thanked God for Philemon’s steadfast faith, which gave Paul “much joy and comfort”. 

Here’s a question for you: how often do you thank the Lord for your fellow Christians? For the ones that are actual examples of faithful followers of our Lord, and for the ones that seem to struggle from time to time.  It would be an interesting study to read Paul’s letters, picking out exactly who he prayed for and what a blessing they were to him.

Bottom line believers, we need to pray for one another, I need to pray for you, and you need to pray for me, so that we can better “stimulate each other to love and good deeds”. It is pretty hard to stimulate and encourage one another if we are not meeting together regularly. So, the direction to “not forsake the assembling of one another” makes a lot of sense.

Of course, you know that good deeds can never save us or keep us in the good graces of our Savior; Jesus has already done both of those for us. It isn’t about how much I do for God; it’s about how much Jesus has done for me. Once I achieve that distinction, I can then truly appreciate the life of grace that Jesus has given me. So, let’s start attending a local assembly regularly, if possible. If not, let’s find another way to see how God can use us to encourage others in the Lord. Let’s be like Philemon and be a blessing to Jesus and others.

"Living in Grace is not about what I can do, but about what Jesus has already done!"