 Praise to Lord and Shalom everyone. Thank you Paul, Lyndon, Subashish and Zaluttholi for joining class this morning. We'll begin. Can I ask Lyndon to lead us in prayer please? Lyndon, can you lead us in prayer please? Okay, Subashish, thank you. Yes. Loving Father, once again Lord, we thank you so much for this beautiful morning. Lord, thank you for adding one more day in our live Lord. Thank you for bringing us together, Lord, to know your word and to Lord work in your truth, Lord. I ask your presence in midst of us, Lord, and I ask, Lord, you lead a faster Lord as you will be teaching us, Lord. Holy Spirit, I pray that you bless her Lord annoying with your power and bless us that Lord will have a good network connection and I pray for all that you once Lord will be attending and bless them. In Jesus name I pray. Amen. Amen. Thank you Subashish. So last Friday we began studying Titus chapter 3 and in Titus chapter 3 Paul admonishes or encourages, tells Titus that the church or the believers in the churches at Crete have to be obedient to the governing authorities. And that is in verses 1 and 2 and then in verses 3 following right up to verse 8 Paul lists seven characteristics of unbelievers and then Paul goes on to mention in verses 4 and below the basis of our salvation. So he says what is the basis of our salvation is God's kindness, his love and mercy. And then he goes on to talk about the effects of our salvation, which is regeneration and renewal. And verse 7 he also talks about another effect of our salvation, which is justification. And then he presents the means for our salvation and he says the means for our salvation is to the power of the Holy Spirit that is at work through Jesus Christ. So the power of the Holy Spirit through the work of Jesus Christ. So we'll move on to verses 9 following of chapter 3 of Titus. So can somebody please read verses 9 to 11 that Paul is writing about rejecting false controversies. So can one of you please read Titus chapter 3 verses 9 to 11 please. But our voice fully disputes, geniolosis, contentions and strivings about the law, for they are unprofitable and useless. The rejects a divisive man after the first and second admonition. Knowing that such a person is worked and sinning, being self-condemned. Amen. Thank you Spashis. So in verse 9 Paul begins by writing says, but avoid. So the but introduces the readers to the contrast between what is important, that is what is the priority and what must be avoided. Not only because it is useless, but because also it is very dangerous to one's spiritual life or to one's faith in Christ Jesus. And then he says avoid. So here he's basically saying that, you know, he's commanding or he's presenting a command, you know, for continual attitude that seeks to avoid useless discussions. So like he wrote to Timothy as well in first and second Timothy, here again he is writing to Titus and to the believers at Crete and he's telling them, you know, avoid, try to avoid, do your best to avoid, you know, useless discussions. And he mentions foolish disputes, genealogies, contentions and strivings about the law. Now, these four basically describe together, you know, the nature of what Titus or the Cretans and all believers may face. So, you know, the Titans, the, sorry, the Cretans, Titus and, you know, believers even today will face, you know, false teachers who go about, you know, with God. You know, with their false disputes, contentions, strivings about the word of God, and in Paul's time it was about the law and also about the Old Testament genealogies. So what are these foolish disputes? Paul describes controversies as foolish because, you know, no matter how brilliant the presentation is or how scholarly these false teachers may appear, you know, the stress seems to be on an exchange of words rather than just genuine search of truth. So if somebody is genuinely searching for truth, then yes, we can, you know, discuss with them, we can present the truths of the gospel. But if somebody is just looking for exchange of words rather than searching for the truth, then, you know, it's important that we avoid such foolish disputes and arguments because they're anyway not interested in the truth. They're anyway not going to heed the gospel, the truth in the scripture. So there's no point talking to them because they're just interested in words. So Paul is saying, you know, don't spend time in these useless, unprofitable discussions with the faith and which is not, you know, useful and productive for one's faith or for one's Christian living. Now these, the words genealogies and disputes about the law point to us more precisely the nature and the source of these foolish arguments and empty discussions. So it's basically, you know, these foolish discussions about these genealogies and disputes about the law, which is kind of fictious additions that were added by a few Jews to the existing genealogies in the Old Testament or to the Old Testament saints. So he's saying, hey, this is really, you know, not profitable. This is useless. So just avoid it totally. Okay. And then he says it's unprofitable and useless, which he refers back to verse eight in the same chapter three where Paul instructed Titus to speak confidently about the truth of the gospel. So Paul's standard is whether, you know, a matter is worth debating is does it relate to the gospel? Is the conversation genuine? Is the person looking out for the truth? Or they are going to heed the truth that you're going to present from scripture? Is it going to lead that person to faith in Christ Jesus? It's going to lead them to godliness. Or is it going to lead them to, you know, godly living and to good deeds? If it's not, then Paul is telling Titus, don't waste your time on this. Okay. Verse 10 and 11, he says, reject a divisive man. So reject means basically avoid them, shun them, you know, just decline them, don't have anything to do with discussing with them. And that's not mean, you know, excommunicating them, but, you know, just avoid them, you know, decline them when they come to you for discussions. And he says, have nothing to do with them. Have nothing to do with them means have nothing to do with either warning them, rebuking them, or even having a dialogue or discussion with them. So totally avoid them. Now, don't have any dialogue, discussion. Don't even warn them and rebuked them. Okay. And then he says, a divisive man. A divisive man means a man who causes divisions by his teaching. And he says, you know, reject a divisive man after the first and second admonish it. That means, you know, correct him, you know, warn him once, twice. And if he continues to disobey, if he continues to hold on to the false teachings and his disputes and his endless genealogies, then he says, have nothing to do with them, you know, just simply leave them to their self, to their own plans. And he says, such a man is warped, warped means twisted, you know, these false teachers turn away from the truth inside out. So they have a negative impact on a person's life, and they're living a life of sin. So it's inside out what is inside is coming out, and they having a negative impact on the person's life and they themselves are living in sin. Okay. And then he says being self-condemned. So a warped person, a divisive man is basically, all is saying, they're aware of their true spiritual state, you know, the Greek term self-condemnation may also be understood to mean that the twisted teachers are condemned by their own behavior. Okay. So they know that, you know, they're aware of their true spiritual status or their spiritual position. Okay. And, you know, they also know that, you know, they're condemned by themselves in what they are believing, what they're teaching and what they are propagating. Okay. And then Paul goes on to, you know, tell, he's nearing the end of his letter, so he's telling the Cretans and telling Titus to provide for God's people, which he mentions in verses 12 to 14. Before we read verses 12 to 14, any of you have any questions regarding verses 9 to 11? So how does verses 9 to 11 practically apply to us in our present day situation? Would anyone like to throw some light on that? How does verses 9 to 11 of chapter 3, you know, relate to us in our context today? Anyone would like to share? Anyone wants to share? Yeah, there are people we meet. They pretend to know Christ by asking too many questions. Okay. We also have, but they deny the deity of Christ. Yes. They just want to discuss for the sake of discussing just empty words, but they're not really interested in knowing the truth, in believing the truth or being led to the truth. Right? So with such people, you know, don't waste your time. And as the Holy Spirit forms you to do it because he's the one who can convict them and lead them into salvation. Anyone else? We have people knocking at our doors in Bangalore City. They have either the Church of Christ, Jehovah Witnesses, different cults, and they come in and, you know, they just want to, you know, discuss, propagate their own teachings. So they are blinded to the truth and they don't want to know the truth and listen to the truth. So it's basically a waste of time. If you are going to really spend time discussing with them because it's going to end, lead to nowhere and end nowhere because they are already blinded by the truth and they don't want to know the truth. You know, if they're looking for the truth, they're searching for the truth, their desires to know the truth, then, you know, we can speak to such people. We have a lot of people who come from New Age philosophies, cult movements who basically endlessly talk and talk and talk, but people who don't want to know the truth and believe the truth and to be led by the truth. So such people are walked in their understanding, their divisive, and like Paul says, you know, just totally avoid them, okay? We'll move on to verses 12 to 14. Can somebody please read verses 12 to 14, please? When I send Artemis to you, O Tychus, be diligent to come to me in Nicopolis, for I have decided to spend the winter there. Send Zenas, the lawyer, and Apollos on their journey with haste that they may lack nothing. And let our people also learn to maintain good works, to meet urgent needs that they may not be unfaithful. Amen. Thank you, Lobega. So here Paul is continuing his discussion about how to maintain good works, and even as he's drawing the end of his letter to Titus, he's talking about his fellow laborers, and we know that usually, you know, it's very characteristic of Paul's letters in his, the ending of his letters. He mentions names of various co-laborers, so we know that Paul did not labor alone. He worked with others, he worked together with a team of people who were, you know, who labored along with him for the cause of Christ, were committed to the cause of Christ into the kingdom of God. And so these verses shows that Paul was somebody who was a very friendly person, who was, you know, into team building and engaging with people, and also somebody who was appreciative of what others were doing to build God's kingdom, which is something that we all must learn. And also very thankful to people who labored along with him is something also that we need to learn. So here he mentions a few significant members of his team. He mentions Artemis. He says, when I send Artemis to you, now this is the only reference of this person, Artemis, that is mentioned here in Titus chapter three. And from his name, we can guess that he's a Gentile. And from the fact that Paul considered him as a worthy replacement for Titus at Crete, we can come to a conclusion that he was somebody who was well established in the ministry. He was a faithful, mature man of God. He was competent. He was also somebody who knew the scriptures very well. And, you know, Titus met Paul at Nicopolis, and then he headed north to Dalmatia. We read about this in 2 Timothy chapter four, verses 10 and 12, and most probably Artemis would have replaced him in Crete. So we see that Artemis was a good, able, capable leader who Paul thought of. Somebody would take the position or the role of Titus at Crete. And then he mentions Taikikis. Taikikis is another faithful Gentile minister and fellow worker with Paul. He was a native of Asia, which is a modern day Western Turkey. He had traveled with Paul, you know, and with him on his third missionary journey. We read about this in Acts chapter 20, verse four. And later he was with Paul during his first Roman imprisonment. We all see that Paul sent the letters to the church at Ephesus and the church at Colosseum at his Ephesians and Colossians with Taikikis, who told those churches about Paul's circumstances. We read about this in Ephesians chapter six, verses 21 and 22, and Colossians chapter four, verse seven and nine. And later we see Paul sent him to Ephesus to relieve Timothy of his responsibilities so that perhaps Timothy could join Paul in Rome before his execution. We read about this in 2 Timothy chapter four, verse 12. And Paul also refers to Taikikis as our beloved brother and faithful servant and fellow-born servant in the Lord. Colossians chapter four, verse seven. So we see that Taikikis was a valuable member in Paul's team. Then Paul mentions Zenos, the lawyer, and this is the only reference of Zenos here in the Bible. So his Greek name means he was also a Gentile lawyer, but he was not very well off. Maybe he was poor and that's why Paul asked Taikikis to supply his needs. It may mean that Zenos was a Jewish expert in the Law of Moses or the Mosaic Law. But anyway he was a well-read man. He was also a lawyer, so he was well-established. He set aside his career to accompany Apollos on the Strip. And so Apollos and Zenos probably would have carried the epistle of Titus to Crete and met Titus at Crete. And then we have Apollos. He was a Jew who was from Alexandria, which is the northern part of Egypt. He was a good orator, a man who speaks very well, eloquent orator. He also knew the scriptures very well and that's why he was maybe a good orator. And Acts chapter 18, verses 24 and 25, mentions Apollos as somebody who was very fervent in spirit. We see that when he came to Ephesus where Priscilla and Aquila were there, they took him aside and they taught him about the way of God, the Holy Spirit and all things concerning the Gospel more accurately. And even though he was somebody who was learned, he was a Jew, he knew the Old Testament Law because he was good in the scriptures like Paul, but just willing to listen to this couple, Aquila and Priscilla shows that, you know, he was somebody who was very humble, who had a teachable heart. And also we see that later on he had a powerful ministry amongst the churches at Corinth. And then Paul writes here and says, you know, after he mentions Artemis, Tychicus, Xenus and Apollos, you know, he says, and let our people also learn to maintain good work. So let our people is basically referring to the believers of the church, the Christians at Crete. And then he's saying, you know, let these believers at Crete take the lead to do some good works. What he is talking, what he had mentioned in verse 8, the same chapter. And Paul, you know, tells Tychus that the Christians at Crete must learn to do some good deeds. So he talks about Xenus and Apollos who need financial help in their journey and in their ministry. So he says, here's a good opportunity to put into practice what I have been telling you. So let the Cretans engage in good works that they just bless Apollos and Xenus. And he reminds them of this privilege to bless them with their good deeds. And then verse 15 is the farewell where Paul says, all who are with me greet you, greet those who love us in the faith. So basically all with me is Paul may have been in Macedonia or Akia. And we know that Paul was never alone. So besides Xenus and Apollos who were there to take this letter, Paul was also maybe connected to a church where he was staying and fellowshiping. So here Paul is talking about all of them with him and their greetings and those who love us in the faith. So Paul is talking about the fellow saints in Crete. And then Paul closes his letter by saying, grace be with you all, amen. So Paul closes all of his letters with the dimension of God's grace, which is not just something that, you know, a polite formality that Paul uses. But here the Greek text literally reads the grace be with you all. So the grace is basically the abundant, sustaining, all sufficient, the full grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. And Paul was so mindful of this grace because he knows it was this grace that saved him, that reached out down to him, even as he was this angry persecutor, persecuting the churches, the believers, the Christians who believed in the Lord Jesus Christ. And he says this grace reached out to him as he was struggling on the road to Damascus and changed his heart. So he was completely someone undeserving of the love, the grace, the favor, the mercy of God. He deserved God's judgment and punishment, but he received his mercy. We also know that God's grace motivated Paul to suffer hardships and go through persecutions for the sake of the Gospel. It motivated him to serve Christ with unstoppable zeal. And we also know that God's grace, as shown on the cross, was Paul's only message that he was preaching out to the people. And God's grace was sufficient to sustain Paul in all his trials and keep him from exalting himself by keeping or exalting the Lord Jesus Christ in everything that he did. So even as he closes with grace be with you all, which expresses not only his affections but his desire for all believers since the grace is so important for our experience and with God, our Savior. And even as we walk our journey in this life, we need his grace. So grace is not only the source of our salvation but it's also the basis of our sanctification. It's also the basis of our foodfulness and also the basis of our reward. So he ends this letter by saying, Grace be with you all, amen. Okay, so this is the end of Paul's letter to Titus. Anyone has any questions, any doubts? Before we move on to the last book that we have to study, it is Philemon. Any questions, doubts? Okay, there are no questions, no doubts. We'll move on to the book of Philemon. So what do you all know about the book of Philemon? Any of you have read the book of Philemon before? Yes, no. Do you have some answers? I have read that book for the last 25 years. Okay. Thank you, Lubega. Anyone else has read the book of Philemon? Nobody was interested in reading the book of Philemon? Okay. Even if you've not read the book of Philemon, can you share some things that come to your mind when you think about this letter that Paul writes? It's just the book of Philemon. Anything you all know? Yes, Lubega? The book of Philemon, we all know that he was a slave, a runaway slave who had runaway. The guy, no, the man, the book was written to Philemon, but it was about a guy they called Onesmas, who was a runaway slave. Philemon was a very rich guy who was staying in the town of Colossi. When he had a sale group, according to these days, we would call it a sale group. He was having a sale group in his house, and he had runaway. And when he ran away, it's possible that he had taken some belongings. The man they called Onesmas had taken some belongings from Philemon, but according to the interpretation, even taking his time because he was a slave, being away from work, that alone is a loss to Philemon. So it is just a short book talking about it pictures. It pictures Christ's master before us about God. That would be the implication or the application of the gospel to that book to me, or to us in the current generation. Let me keep this coming out of my shirt for now. Thank you, Lubega, that was quite a detailed briefing on the book of Philemon. Good, thank you. Anyone else? I'd like to share your thoughts on the book of Philemon. Okay, if not, we will look at the introduction to Philemon. Who do you think wrote this book? The man himself, Paul. Paul, yes. Thank you, Lubega. Paul wrote this letter to Philemon. It's a more personal letter, so we don't call it an epistle, but it's more a personal letter to Philemon. And Paul, who's the author who writes this letter, refers himself three times as Paul here in verses 1, verse 9, and verse 19. Now, the book, the letter of Philemon has only one chapter, so very small and a very short book. So the author is Paul. Let's look at the place of origin and date. This book was, or this letter, sorry, is written from Rome in AD 60 and 61. And Paul wrote the epistles of Colossians and Ephesians, and this letter to Philemon during his first Roman imprisonment. So Paul is writing this from Rome during his first Roman imprisonment, along as he writes the letters of the epistles of the church at Colossia and Ephesus, which is Colossians and Ephesians. Now, how do we know that Paul wrote this letter during his first Roman imprisonment? In this letter to Philemon, Paul clearly mentions in verses 1, verse 9, verse 10, and verse 23. He mentions himself as a prisoner, so it's very clear that he was in imprisonment. And Paul's imprisonment also seems to be from the same location that he writes, that location as we read in Colossians, because the names mentioned in Philemon, chapter 10 and, sorry, verses 10 and 22 and 24, or the names that are mentioned in verses 10 and verses 22 to 24, are the same names that Paul mentions also in Colossians chapter 4, verses 7 to 17. So it becomes clear that, you know, he wrote this at the same time, he wrote the epistle of Colossians to the church at Colossia, and the names of Epiphras, Mark, Aristakis, Archipus, Deimos, Luke, Onissimus, Paul and Timothy, which is mentioned in Colossians chapter 4, verses 7 to 17, is also mentioned in Philemon chapter 1, verses 10 and 22 and 24. We also know that this letter was written during his first Roman imprisonment because in Colossians chapter 4, verses 7 to 9, Tychicus was entrusted to deliver the letter to Philemon and the Colossians of the church at Colossia. So he was accompanied with Onissimus, and this is the same Onissimus that is mentioned also in Philemon. And Paul was under house arrest at Rome, which would have allowed him to, you know, have visitors and also his co-workers, and hence there was this possibility that he could meet Onissimus and lead him to the faith and also mentor him. And Dr. Luke, who wrote the book of Acts, was with Paul in Rome, and details of this are given in the book of Acts. So all this very clearly points out to us that Paul wrote this letter along with the Colossians, the episodes of Colossians and Ephesians during his first Roman imprisonment. Now some scholars debate and say or present their understanding that, you know, Paul wrote this letter from Caesarea, but it's unlikely for these following reasons, just two reasons. It's unlikely that Onissimus was the runaway slave, Phum Colossae would have fled to Caesarea because if he escaped to Caesarea, he would have been easily noticed and caught. And it's unlikely that he would have had access to Paul, like he would have had access to Paul when he was at Rome, because at Rome he was under house arrest and it was, you know, feasible for him to meet visitors and other people to come and visit him. So it's not possible that Paul wrote this letter from Caesarea. Also Paul expects to be released in the near future since he requests Philemon in this letter we read in verse 22 to prepare a place of lodging in his house because he is going to come and visit him. So this probably would not have been the case if Paul was writing at Caesarea where Paul knew that his only appeal would have been to appeal to or his only hope would have been to appeal to Caesar. So it's unlikely that he wrote this letter from Caesarea. Now some understand or some scholars debate and say that Paul wrote this letter from Ephesus but it's not possible because there's no evidence that exists to affirm that Paul was imprisoned in Ephesus and it's unlikely that Onissimus would have fled to Ephesus because it was 100 miles away from Colossae which is a long journey. It's not possible and hence Rome was the only place that he could have gone to because it's closer to Colossae and also it is so highly densely populated that his presence would not be very evident there of a runaway slave. Now who is Onissimus? Onissimus like Rebecca mentioned is the slave of Philemon. How does he come into contact with Paul at Rome is even as he was a slave who ran away from Philemon we know that he had also stolen money like Rebecca said. We read this in verse 18. He had stolen money from his master and runaway and he most probably ran away to Rome because I said he was densely or heavily populated and it was a safe place for him to hide but how does he come into contact with Paul? Two suggested possibilities is how this came about. Now Epaphrys had come from Colossae and he would have come around this time to visit Paul. We read about his visit in Colossians chapter 1 verses 7 and 8 verses 12 and 13 of chapter 4 and when Epaphrys had come to meet Paul at Rome he would have seen and recognized Onissimus because Epaphrys was one of the leaders of the churches at Colossae so he would know Philemon, he would have attended this church that Philemon hosts in his house and he would have known Onissimus and he would have brought him to Paul. Another possible reason that scholars mentioned how Onissimus met Paul was Onissimus may have exhausted all his money and he would have been in a desperate need and maybe he would have been familiar with the name of Paul and in a situation bearing large and looming large over him he would have turned to Paul as a last resort. He would have known Paul because Paul would have visited Colossae stayed at Philemon's house and would have been acquainted with Paul even as he served him known that he was a good man maybe somebody would help him out not send him back to Onissimus or hand him over to the authorities so he goes over to meet Paul. So these are the two possible reasons how Onissimus would have met Paul. Now when Onissimus met Paul Paul took a deep interest in this runaway slave he led Onissimus to accept Christ and then Onissimus becomes very useful for Paul he ministered to Paul while Paul was in house arrest at Rome and Onissimus becomes very dear to Paul that Paul calls him as a son in the faith in verse 10 in this letter and Paul also would have grown very fond of him liked him very much so in verse 13 in the same letter Paul is telling Philemon that he wants to keep Onissimus with him because Onissimus is very useful to him but because Onissimus belongs to Philemon Paul knew that it was his responsibility and it was right on his part to send him back to his master and send him back to Colossae so he sends him back to Colossae with Taikikis who carried the epistle of Colossians along with his letter to Philemon and Paul could have exerted his authority his suppostorship, his acquaintance and taken the advantage and not sent back Onissimus kept him with him because he was very useful for Paul but Paul followed the Roman law the Roman law required that if a runaway slave was found the person had to send the runaway slave back to his master so Paul we see even as he's writing to Taikikis he says submit to authorities obey the authorities in chapter 3 verses 1 and 2 here we see him obeying the authorities even though he had up a hand even though he was in a better position of just keeping back Onissimus and also doing what is right in the Christian fellowship sending back the slave to his master so something beautiful that we can learn from Paul here is even though we might be people who are in great leadership responsibilities elders in the church or maybe you are the head of your home you can use your authority in the right way but also important to be mindful that even as you exercise and use your authority that you are mindful of obeying the law of the land obeying what the law of God says in his book in the scripture keeping to that obeying it and not coming to a place of arrogance and pride and saying I am an elder I am in place of responsibility I can do what I want to do and sometimes I can even step over the law of the land I can step over even what the law of Christian fellowship requires me to do I can do what I want to because I am in authority but we see here and we can learn from Paul that he did what was rightful even though he loved Onissimus he wanted to keep him he was of great use, great help but he does what is right in sending him back so in this letter Paul requests Philemon to receive Onissimus not back as a slave as a beloved brother in the Lord talks about this in verses 10 and 16 and perhaps the hope that Philemon will return to Onissimus to him for ministry in verse 21 now I don't know if you ever thought of this question why would this personal letter of Philemon to a person Philemon, it's not even talking about church administration it's not talking about how to run a church it's not talking about church growth it's not talking about church principles or even how to overcome false teachers just a very personal letter to Philemon about his runaway slave and just accept him and receive him back why would this personal letter to Philemon be in our Bibles any thoughts? any thoughts? Yes, Tobega? it just it pictures what Christ did for us to the Father in heaven for instance we also had wronged God by trespassing his laws dipped their back there in the Garden of Eden through Adam and Christ paid the price just as poster is encased of this man did anything wrong to you put that on my name so it is basically I think that's the major reason to why it appears it pictures what the Christ did for us and is still doing for generations to come Thank you Thank you, Tobega Yes, maybe anyone else has any thoughts you'd like to share Okay, so history tells us scholars tell us that in 8010 the Bishop of Ephesus was a person called Onesimus and they say it could have been the same runaway slave Onesimus so if Onesimus was in his late teens or early 20s when Paul wrote this letter to Philemon he would have been about 70 years old when it was 8010 and this was not an unreasonable age for a bishop in those days so they say that most likely Onesimus would have wanted this letter to be part of the Bible because there are some historical evidences that the letters of Paul were first gathered as a group in the city of Ephesus and it would have been at that time when Onesimus was the Bishop of Ephesus and perhaps Onesimus who first compiled all of Paul's letters ensured or made sure that his letter or his contract of freedom was included in the Bible as well so maybe that's the reason why this letter to Philemon is there in the Bible apart from what Lubega mentioned would have been the guidance of the Holy Spirit any questions, doubts or clarity you would require about introduction to Philemon if there's no questions or clarity that's required we'll move on to study Philemon there's only one chapter so we'll study chapter one can somebody please read verses 1, 2 and 3 please anyone? Paul is the prisoner of Christ Jesus and Timothy our brother to Philemon our beloved friend and fellow liberal to the beloved Amphia, Archipos our fellow soldier and to the church in your house grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ Thank you Subashish so Paul you know beginning this letter to Philemon is very unusual because of all the 13 letters Paul wrote to the churches or individuals in 9 of them he calls himself as an apostle in the opening verses but in this letter along with the the epistle to the church at Philippi that's the Philippians and the third church at Thessalonica which is 1st and 2nd Thessalonians Paul appealed to his readers more as a friend and less as an apostle so all of the 13 letters that Paul wrote you know to the churches or to individuals in 9 of them he calls himself as an apostle but Philippians 1st and 2nd Thessalonians and in this letter he appeals you know to them more out of sympathy and of love more as a friend and less as an apostle so in the very beginning itself when Paul is writing this letter he's telling trying to tell Philemon Philemon I'm not coming here and writing this letter to you in terms of my authority and I'm not exerting my authority to take back on a semester not as a slave but as a beloved brother but I'm writing to you as a dear friend and on that I'm making an appeal of sympathy and of love alone and not on basis of authority we'll come back after the break and we'll continue