Love of Christ a Bond of Brotherhood
Philemon 1:5
Hearing of your love and faith, which you have toward the Lord Jesus, and toward all saints;


An unknown man one day dropped dead in New York. He seemed to have been very poor, for in the pockets of his shabby clothes there was not a cent. His description was published in the newspapers, and among other details, mention was made of a tattoo mark on his right arm. It represents a tomb overhung by the branches of a weeping willow. Below was the inscription, "In memory of my mother." Nothing was known of him; but one thing was clear — he had once had a mother whom he loved. The body was sent to a station house, and the next day would have been buried in Potter's Field at the expense of the city, if a merchant had not interposed. He asked permission to pay the cost of a decent funeral in a cemetery for the man. He did not know him, but he, too, had lost his mother, and the memory of her had been enshrined in his heart for many years. He felt a brotherhood with the man whose love of his dead mother was displayed in the tattoo marks, and desired to do a brother's part to him. If every Christian felt that the love of Christ, common to him with other Christians, constituted a bond of brotherhood with its claims upon him, how much hardship and pain would be relieved!



Parallel Verses
KJV: Hearing of thy love and faith, which thou hast toward the Lord Jesus, and toward all saints;

WEB: hearing of your love, and of the faith which you have toward the Lord Jesus, and toward all the saints;




Love First
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