Philemon 1:12 Whom I have sent again: you therefore receive him, that is, my own bowels: There must be a reconciliation between Christians: all offences must be buried (Colossians 3:12). 1. God offers reconciliation to us; and shall we be so hard-hearted as not to be reconciled one to another? 2. All we do is abominable in the sight of God without it (Matthew 5:23, 24). God should be first served, yet He will have His own service to stay till thou be reconciled to thy brother. 3. We can have no assurance of our reconciliation to God without it (Matthew 18:35). 4. We have no certainty of our lives. This night may our souls be taken from us. Jovinian the emperor supped plentifully, and went to bed merrily, yet was taken up dead in the morning; and if death take us before we take another by the hand, as a token of hearty reconciliation, what shall become of us? (Ephesians 4:26). Johannes Eleemosynarius, Archbishop of Alexandria, being angry in the day with Nicetus, a senator, towards night sends this message to him: "My honourable brother, the sun is setting; let there be a setting of our anger, too." If we do it not within the compass of a day and night, yet let us do it within the compass of our lives; let not our anger be like the fire of the temple, that went not out day nor night. Let our anger be the sting of a bee, that is soon gone; not the sting of a serpent, that tarries long, and sometimes proves fatal. (W. Jones, D. D.) Parallel Verses KJV: Whom I have sent again: thou therefore receive him, that is, mine own bowels:WEB: I am sending him back. Therefore receive him, that is, my own heart, |
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