Beloved, I am glad to share with you today the above theme from Phil 1:1-2 and following. Indeed, it should be emphasized that the epistle to the Philippians can be classified among the most personal, even the warmest writings of the New Testament. There is no detailed doctrinal exposition of Christian truth, for it is eminently practical. Reading it, we discover that “the doctrine of Christ” is not a mere theory: on the contrary, it can and must be put into practice, by the strength of the Lord, in all the circumstances of life. We can also call the epistle to the Philippians “the book of experience.” These are not, however, the experiences of a weak Christian, experiencing many shortcomings in his life. Rather, it speaks of the experiences of the mature Christian in the faith, a “father in Christ” (1 Jn 2:13:14), who found rest and full satisfaction in Christ, his Lord.
This experience can be summed up in three words: “Christ is enough for me.” He is my life, my role model, my purpose, my strength and my joy. For Paul speaks here neither as an apostle nor as a doctor; he is only a “slave of Jesus Christ”. How would he assert a higher title than the one his Master took? From the depths of his prison in Rome, he wrote to his dear Philippians, among whom we know Lydia and the jailer (Acts 16:11-34). His “keen affection” for them translates into prayers (Phil 1:8). Let us note above all the sequence of requests: love, true knowledge, spiritual discernment, pure and upright walking, fruit produced (Phil 1:9-11).
Then he reassures them about his imprisonment. For this blow that the Enemy thought he would bring to the Gospel had, on the contrary, contributed to its advancement. Indeed, open opposition, calculated to discourage the Lord’s witnesses, usually has the effect of galvanizing them. But what is the attitude of the apostle when he learns that the Gospel is sometimes proclaimed under very questionable conditions? No impatience or criticism. Nor conversely, a desire to associate with it. Only a sincere joy to see God’s work being done regardless of its instruments.
For the heart of man is so constituted that he cannot bear to be empty. He feels a hunger that the world, like a vast store, strives to satisfy with a variety of the most desirable commodities. But we know from experience that a display, however attractive it may be before our meal, stopped tempting us at two o’clock in the afternoon. A somewhat familiar comparison, but one that helps us remember this: nothing exerts more attraction on a heart filled with Jesus. So it was with the apostle: Christ was his only object, his only reason for living. Who would dare to take up this verse 21? (“for Christ is my life, and death is a gain for me.”) However, Christian progress consists in achieving it ever better. Indeed, Christ was enough for Paul to live and to die. Placing himself in front of this alternative, someone wrote: “He only knew what to choose. By dying he gained Christ, by living he served Christ.” Love for the saints inclines him to stay instead.
Defending the gospel, like any struggle, involves suffering. But these are a gift of grace from the Lord in the same way as salvation, a privilege He bestows upon the Saints (Phil 1:29). Instead of pitying persecuted Christians, shouldn’t we envy them instead? At least let us pray for them. Then we will take part with them in the fight for the truth. Paul does not begin by presenting himself as an apostle, but simply as a slave of Jesus Christ. We must therefore not consider the experience he is led to recount as something apostolic, and therefore beyond the reach of ordinary Christians. On the contrary, it is the experience of a slave or servant, and we all are. He himself addressed those who could be described in Philippi as “saints in Christ Jesus”. Being in Christ, they were set apart for God. There were overseers and servants in their midst, but these are not mentioned first. Men who held such offices in the local assembly had a place of honor and importance, but they did not dominate God’s inheritance (1 Peter 5:3), nor did they claim the first place in all things.
Immediately after the greetings at the beginning, Paul recalls the happy memory he had of the saints in Philippi. They had been particularly characterized by communion in the gospel. They had had much of the apostle in their hearts, and they had stood by his side as partners; all this was proof of God’s work in them. God had begun in them a good work by His Spirit, highlighted in this way; and what God had begun, He would complete, and it would be finalized on the day of Christ.
Obviously they were characterized by a great love for the gospel, and by a communion of heart with the gospel, in a practical way; and not only with the gospel, but also with Paul who was its ambassador, and so they were participants in grace with him. They were participants not only in relation to the confirmation of the gospel by the wonderful results it produced, but also in relation to its defense against all adversaries, and in connection with the ties in which the ambassador found himself. There were many things in them that were a subject of joy, but the apostle’s desire is summed up in the phrase “even more and more.” While God’s work for us has been done once and for all by the Lord Jesus, God’s work in us through His Holy Spirit is something progressive. That we have to abound more and more in love is obviously the main one, because in doing so, our knowledge and our power of discernment will increase.
We have to grow in this nature as a result of God’s work in us, and this will continue until the end of our sojourn here on earth, and will bear fruit and be manifested in the day of Christ. What a shock it must have been for the first Christians when Paul was imprisoned under the iron hand of Rome! A sudden annihilation seemed to fall on his work and triumphs unprecedented in the gospel, and it must have looked like a total disaster. But this was not the case; rather, the opposite happened; the following verses teach us how God was stronger and turned everything around for good.
It was expressly for the sake of good that things had happened this way, to make it clear that the Good News was the sole cause of Paul’s imprisonment. From the highest circles in Rome to the most humble, it was perfectly clear everywhere that he was in bond because of Christ, and not as an ordinary evildoer. It was all the more for the good that most of the brothers had been moved in the right way by his captivity. Instead of being discouraged and intimidated, they had been pushed to trust more in the Lord, as a result of which they showed more boldness to proclaim God’s word without fear.
Here we have a striking look at the inner life and spirit of the apostle. His trials were very profound. Not only was his imprisonment likely to irritate his mind, but the action of these envious and quarrelsome brothers must have exasperated him unreasy. And yet here he is calm, confident, benevolent, without any trace of irritation in his mind: a true triumph of the power of God. The secret was, of course, that he had learned to forget himself, and to see things entirely from God’s point of view. It might be bad for Paul, but if it was good for Christ, then there was nothing more to say, for nothing else mattered to him.
The apostle could therefore say, “In this I rejoice and also I will rejoice” (Phil 1:18). He rejoiced in the preaching of Christ, and he rejoiced in the assurance that all that seemed so against him would turn to his own salvation, the Philippians helping with their prayers, and the help of the Spirit of Jesus Christ always being available to him.
The fulfillment of this desire implied salvation, because according to nature, each of us yearns for exaltation and self-fulfillment in our bodies. Have we all discovered that it is a wonderful present salvation to have our inclinations and the course of our lives turned entirely away from ourselves to be redirected to Christ? Present salvation is then found in the setting aside of the self and in the exaltation of Christ, and this is not only salvation, but it is also what is really life. When the apostle said, “For me, to live is Christ,” he was not stating an element of Christian doctrine, but he was speaking of experience. Indeed, it is a fact that Christ is the life of His saints, but here this fact is translated into Paul’s experience and practice, to the point that his life could be summed up in one word: CHRIST. Christ lived in Paul and through Paul.
If life meant Christ living in Paul, death meant Paul with Christ. That is why he adds: “and die, a gain”. For every Christian, death when it comes is truly a gain; but it is obvious that very few of us remain aware of this fact. When our beloveds who believe are taken away from us, we console ourselves with the thought that, for them, it means being with Christ, which is much better. We would immediately choose the alternative that is not said to be much better. Death is a gain, and Paul knew it well; it was he who, years before, had ascended to the third heaven, without being able to say whether it was in or out of the body. In any way, he had been given a taste of the blessing of being with Christ. We can take the words “much better,” both as Paul’s verdict resulting from this wonderful experience, and as God’s revelation of this wonderful fact.
When he says “what I have to choose, I don’t know”, we must not understand that he was indeed given the choice to decide whether he should live or die. At least that’s what we think. He writes very colloquially and with great freedom to his beloved Redeemed Philippians, and so he does not stop to say: “if the choice was left to me”. He knew that being with Christ is not just better, but much better; yet he does not decide on this alternative based on his own feelings.
The following verses have been compiled for your edification and grouped together for your better understanding.
The progression of the Good News:
- Fearlessness of the righteous
Jb 5:21 You will be safe from the scourge of the tongue, You will be fearless when the devastation comes. Ps 3:7 I do not fear the myriad peoples who besiege me from all sides. Ps 27:3 If an army were to stand against me, My heart would have no fear; If a war were to be against me, I would still be full of confidence. Ps 91:5 Thou shady neither the terrors of the night nor the arrow that flies by day; Ps 112:8 His heart is strengthened; he has no fear, until he puts his pleasure in looking at his opponents. Ps 118:6 The Lord is for me, I fear nothing: What can men do to me? Pr 3:24 If you go to bed, you will be without fear; And when you go to bed, your sleep will be soft. Isa 8:12 Do not call conjuration all that this people call conjuration; Do not fear what he fears, and do not be afraid. Isa 12:2 Behold, God is my deliverance, I will be full of trust, and I will fear nothing; For the Lord, the Lord is my strength and the subject of my praises; He was the one who saved me.
- Spiritual boldness
Eph 3:12 in whom we have, through faith in Him, the freedom to draw near to God with confidence. 1 Tim 3:13 for those who properly carry out their ministry gain honorable rank and great assurance in faith in Jesus Christ. Hb 4:16 Let us therefore confidently approach the throne of grace in order to obtain mercy and find grace, to be rescued in our needs. Hb 10:19 So, brethren, since we have, by means of the blood of Jesus, a free entry into the sanctuary;1 Jn 4:17 As it is, as we are also in this world: it is in this that love is perfect in us, so that we may have assurance on the day of judgment.
- The righteous will be without shame
Ps 119:6 Then I will not blush, in view of all your commandments. Is 50:7 But the Lord, the Lord, has rescued me; That is why I have not been dishonored, That is why I have made my face like a pebble, knowing that I would not be confused. Jl 2:26 Before them the people tremble, All the faces fade. Rom 9:33 as it is written: Behold, I put in Zion a stumbling stone And a rock of scandal, And he who believes in him will not be confused. Phil 1:20 according to my firm expectation and hope that I will not be ashamed of anything, but that now as always Christ will be glorified in my body with full assurance, either by my life or by my death; 1 Pet 4:16 But if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed of it, and rather glorify God because of that name. 1 Jn 2:28 And now, little children, abide in him, that when he appears we may have confidence, and that at his advent we may not be confused and distant from him.
- Defense of the faith
Gal 2:11 But when Cephas came to Antioch, I resisted him in the face, because he was reprehensible. Phil 1:17 while those, animated by a spirit of contention, proclaim Christ by motives that are not pure and with the thought of arousing me some tribulation in my bonds. Tt 1:13 This testimony is true. Therefore, take them up severely, so that they may have a healthyfaith; Jude 3 Beloved, as I longed to write to you about our common salvation, I felt compelled to do so in order to exhort you to fight for the faith that has been passed on to the Saints once and for all.
From all of the above, we note that we see again that the only thing that mattered was what was most appropriate for advancing the interests of his Lord. What this means in detail is necessarily inconceivable in our present condition, but let us be assured that a blessing beyond anything that can be imagined awaits us. It seems fairly certain that Paul’s trust was justified and that he “remained and remained” with them for a few more years, for their spiritual progress and joy, and that he gave them something to rejoice in coming among them for a little while. He had only one great desire for them: whether he was absent or present among them, it was that they behave in a manner worthy of the gospel. Not only did they have to stand firm, but they had to stand firm “in one and the same spirit.” It was not simply fighting with the faith of the gospel, but doing it “with one soul” and “together.” The very fact that they are adversaries is for them only a guarantee of destruction when God rises. When He rises, it will be salvation for His people. As we await His intervention, it is up to us to fight and suffer for Him. The Philippians had seen him in Paul, according to the testimony of Acts 16, and now they were learning that the same thing was happening to him in Rome. Suffering for Christ and His gospel is presented here as a privilege granted to us believers. If we were not so sadly angry on the one hand by the dissensions and disunity that prevail in the church, and on the other hand by the incursions of the world and the spirit of the world, it is in this light that we should see suffering for Christ. How immensely blessed we would be! Our prayers are with you all.
PRAYER OF ACCEPTANCE OF JESUS CHRIST AS LORD AND PERSONAL SAVIOR
I now invite every person who wants to become a new creation by walking in the truth, to pray with me the following prayer:
Lord Jesus, I have long walked in the lusts of the world ignoring your love for humans. I admit to having sinned against you and ask your forgiveness for all my sins, because today I have decided to give you my life by taking you as Lord and personal Savior. I recognize that you died on the cross of Calvary and rose from the dead for me.
I am now saved and born again by the power of the Holy Spirit. Lead me every day to the eternal life that you give to all who obey your Word. Reveal yourself to me and strengthen my heart and faith, so that your light may be shining in my life right now.
Thank you, Lord Jesus for accepting me into your divine family, so that I may also contemplate the wonders of your kingdom.
I will now choose a nearby watering point to baptize myself by immersion, in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
All adoration, power and glory are yours, now and forever and ever. Amen!
I would be happy to respond to any questions and comments you may have, before sharing with you tomorrow on “the exhortation to have the same thought, Jesus Christ, model of humility.”
May the Lord Jesus Christ bless you abundantly.
David Feze, Servant of the Almighty God.