Philippians 1

10 in all judgment; that ye may approve things that are excellent; that ye may be sincere and 11 without offence till the day of Christ; being filled with the fruits of righteousness, which are by Jesus Christ, unto the glory and praise of God.

12. But I would ye should understand, brethren, that the things which happened unto me 13 have fallen out rather unto the furtherance of the gospel; so that my bonds in Christ are 14 manifest in all the palace, and in all other places; and many of the brethren in the Lord, 15 waxing confident by my bonds, are much more bold to speak the word without fear. Some 16 indeed preach Christ even of envy and strife; and some also of good will: the one preach 17 Christ of contention, not sincerely, supposing to add affliction to my bonds: but the other 18 of love, knowing that I am set for the defence of the gospel. What then? notwithstanding, every way, whether in pretence, or in truth, Christ is preached; and I therein do 19 rejoice, yea, and will rejoice. For I know that this shall turn to my salvation through your 20 prayer, and the supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ, according to my earnest expectation and my hope, that in nothing I shall be ashamed, but that with all boldness, as always, so now also Christ shall be magnified in my body, whether it be by life, or by death.

21. For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. But if I live in the flesh, this is the fruit 22 of my labor: yet what I shall choose I wot not. For I am in a strait betwixt two, having 23 a desire to depart, and to be with Christ; which is far better: nevertheless to abide in the 24 flesh is more needful for you. And having this confidence, I know that I shall abide and 25 continue with you all for your furtherance and joy of faith; that your rejoicing may be 26 more abundant in Jesus Christ for me by my coming to you again. Only let your conversation be as it becometh the gospel of Christ: that whether I come and see you, or else be absent, I may hear of your affairs, that ye stand fast in one spirit, with one mind striving 27 together for the faith of the gospel; and in nothing terrified by your adversaries: which is 28 to them an evident token of perdition, but to you of salvation, and that of God. For unto you it is given in the behalf of Christ, not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for his 30 sake; having the same conflict which ye saw in me, and now hear to be in me.

THE belief of the final perseverance of the saints is a very different thing from a vain presumption that I am one of them, because of some dreams, or feelings, or past experiences, and that therefore I can not fail of salvation, whatever may be the tenor of my life. The privilege and the character to which it belongs can not be separated. The perseverance of God’s people is a perseverance in holiness; and they, therefore, are sure of eternal life, because he who has called them to it calls them to holiness, and pledges himself to keep them in holiness as the way to life. He ordains them to the means as well as to the end. The assurance, then, I am a child of God, and therefore I shall never fail of salvation, can not exist for a moment but as the Spirit of God witnesses with my spirit, not that he once (as I may think) began, but that he is carrying on a work of grace, a sanctifying work, in my heart. Any habitually indulged sin at once demonstrates that my confidence of interest in God because of some former convictions and religious feelings, has been a delusion. And the sinful infirmities of God’s people, in the same proportion that they grieve and banish the Comforter from their souls, take away all enjoyment of this truth of final perseverance; not because the truth itself is doubted, but their agreement with the character of those in whom alone it is verified. This doctrine is a precious cordial for the fainting soldier in the day of battle. It strengthens his weak hands, confirms his feeble knees, animates him under all the terribleness of conflict. He remembers that God is faithful, who has promised, “They shall never perish, neither shall any one pluck them out of my hand.” Tell him this sweet truth, then, if he be wavering, ready to give up in despair, as, but for this hope of salvation, he well may. Tell him of it, if he be even fallen, so as he be but struggling and grappling with his enemy, though it be in the dust. But, if he be parleying with Satan, tampering with sin, ceasing the warfare, this precious truth of God becomes as poison to his soul. Goode.

PHILIPPI is remarkable as the first European city in which the gospel was preached. In Acts 16: 12, etc., we have the account of Paul’s arrival and proceeding there. (Read pages 112-116.) That Church had begun with a discourse to a few pious women by the side of the little river Gangites; it grew to become the affectionate and only helper of the apostle in his necessities on two several occasions: immediately after his departure from Philippi, and again shortly before this Epistle was written. Paul revisited it (Acts 20: 6) on his return to Asia. But, of the state of the Church from the time of his first visit, all we know is to be gathered from this Epistle, and from a few scattered notices in other Epistles. A.

In his imprisonment he was far less occupied with anxiety for his own life than for the welfare of the churches scattered through various regions, who through the dangers which beset their apostolic teacher might become unsettled in their faith, deprived as they were of his personal guidance in this dark and troubled period. Through his pupils and associates in the preaching of the gospel, who now formed the living link between him and these churches, and through his letters, must the want be supplied. Among these churches was that of Philippi in Macedonia. Its members had been witnesses of the ignominy and suffering endured by Paul on account of the gospel. They had witnessed the example he gave of boldness in the faith, of devotion to the Lord, of triumphant enthusiasm in his service, his joyfulness in suffering, and the wonderful deliverances wrought for him by the Lord. This had served, in a special manner, to give greater depth and archer to their love for him, who was ready to sacrifice all that he might bring them the glad tidings of salvation. They followed the example of their faithful teacher. The Church at Philippi remained steadfast under persecutions. Their faith and love had been approved thereby. Neither could they be unsettled in their faith by the persecutions which had now befallen their apostolic teacher. They were conscious of that higher fellowship with him under all his conflicts and sufferings. His sufferings, and the dangers which hung over him, but added new fuel to their love and sympathy. To manifest this to him they had sent one of their own number, Epaphroditus, who might also bring back to them more exact information of his circumstances. In order to avoid every appearance of self-seeking, and to take from the opposers among the Jews and Judaizing Christians every occasion of suspicion, Paul had himself assumed the whole charge of his temporal support. Still the Church at Philippi were moved, by their heartfelt love to him, to anticipate his wants; and, knowing how difficult he must often find it to earn a maintenance, they had several times sent sums of money for his necessities. Paul, though he sought no gift, yet, in view of the feeling which prompted it, could not reject the freewill offering of love. This Church had now once more manifested in this way their active sympathy for Paul, by sending to him Epaphroditus. This circumstance, and what he learned through their messenger of the condition of the Philippiian Church, occasioned the writing of this Epistle. Its object was to express to the Church at Philippi his gratitude and love; to relieve their anxiety respecting his own situation; to give them a view of his Christian state and temper in the midst of his conflicts and dangers; and to bestow upon them the counsels and encouragements suited to their peculiar circumstances. N.—Of course, in such a writer, this would lead also to a rich pouring forth of the sympathies and counsels of his paternal Christian heart, which under the guidance of the blessed Spirit have become a precious treasure of refreshment, consolation, and knowledge for all ages of the Church. A.

1,2. The letter alleges no doctrinal error against the Philippians, nor does it reprove any sin or practical fault. It opens easily and graciously. Nothing is said of Paul’s apostleship, for in Philippi it had not been called in question. The Epistle professes to proceed from “Paul and Tim-

Timothy, servants of Jesus Christ,” for these had labored together in Macedonia; and it is addressed to “all the saints in Christ Jesus which are at Philippi, with the bishops and deacons.” It is a very important description of a primitive Christian community. D. F.

6. The Spirit of God has wrought all the good that is in us; and the imperfections which still cloud the brightness of his work are the lingering remains of our own evil nature. God’s work is begun, else we had no faith, no love. But our faith is wavering, our love is blended fire and ice; wherefore God’s work is clearly not completed. What, then, is the natural conclusion from the fact which is certified to every Christian, alike by the good which is God’s, and by the evil that is his own? What is the natural conclusion from the fact that God’s work is begun, but is imperfect? Is it not this—that that work must go on till it be finished? If a Spirit all-powerful and infinite is working in me, never can his work be finished until it is perfected. A. M.

The grace of Christ, when once obtained, shall infallibly prove victorious, and finally prevail against all opposition. He who is the author is likewise the finisher of his people’s faith; for “his gifts and calling are without repentance.” Grace, though a small rivulet in appearance, is fed with an everlasting spring. Where the Lord Jesus begins a good work he will carry it on to perfection, and never leave the objects of his love till he hath made them like himself, all glorious both within and without, and presented them to his Father without spot and blemish. R. W.—In this confidence, though with fear and trembling, let us work out our salvation; God working in us both to will and to do of his good pleasure. Seeking the aids of the Holy Spirit, let us aim at perfection. Let every day see some sin crucified, some battle fought, some good done, some victory won; let every fall be followed by a rise, and every step gained become, not a resting-place, but a new starting-point, for further and higher progress; and, looking over the gloomy confines of the grave to the glory that lies beyond, let us meet our last hour and last enemy, when they come, calm “in the sure and certain hope of a glorious resurrection”—this our confidence, that he who hath begun a good work in us will carry it on to the day of the Lord Jesus! T. G.

8. For “record,” read “witness”; and for “in the bowels of Jesus Christ,” “in the tender heart of Christ Jesus.” The Epistle is overflowing with expressions of affection. We see how such a heart, penetrated to its depths by the Spirit of God, could love. We can see how that feeble frame, crushed to the very verge of death itself, shaken with fightings and fears, burning at every man’s offense and weak with every man’s infirmities, had yet its sweet refreshments and calm resting-places of affection. We can form some estimate, if the bliss of reposing on human spirits who loved him was so great, how deep must have been his tranquillity, how ample and how clear his fresh spring of life and joy in Him of whom he could write, “Yet it is not I that live, but Christ that liveth in me”; and of whose abiding power within him he felt, as he tells his Philippians, “I have strength for all things in Him that giveth me power.” A.

9. A soul, however well practiced in thinking, will miss the right if not quickened and the eye of the spirit made single by love. To love, therefore, Paul here gives the first place, and ascribes to its quickening presence the knowledge and capacity required for distinguishing the good and the bad, the true and the false—as he himself expresses it, “that your love may more and more abound in all knowledge”; meaning that therein its effect is seen, that increase of knowledge is the fruit of more abundant love. Paul desires for them especially increase in knowledge, is the faculty of perception, that they might test things which differ, the good and the bad, the true and the false, that thus they might avoid the one and choose the other. He assumes that for this work the diligent exercise of the faculty of perception is necessary; that such a power of discernment is the fruit of unremitting exercise of the Christian judgment. N.

More and more in knowledge. He who lives up to a little light shall have more light; he who lives up to a little knowledge shall have more knowledge; he who lives up to a little faith shall have more faith; and he who lives up to a little love shall have more love. The main reason why men are such babes and shrubs in grace is because they do not live up to their attainments.

And in all judgment. That wisdom which a believer has from Christ leads him to center in the wisdom of Christ; and that love which the soul has from Christ leads the soul to center in the love of Christ; and that righteousness which the soul has from Christ leads the soul to rest and center in the righteousness of Christ. Brooks.

10. Things excellent. Good and evil, in most common cases, are plain enough to be seen. We do not mistake the one for the other; the fault is wholly in our practice; we knowingly leave good undone and do evil. But there are also many cases where it is otherwise, and where, before we come to the difficulty of right acting, we have a previous difficulty to overcome in the right judging. And here it is that Paul’s prayer for the Philippians applies to us also. We need God’s help in order to distinguish and approve what is really excellent. T. A.

11. Those fruits of righteousness, by which the soul is qualified to appear without offense in the day of Christ, the several graces of the sanctifying Spirit, are nothing else but so many holy principles, all disposing the soul toward this blessedness and the way to it; mortification, self-denial, and godly sorrow take it off from other objects, the world, self, and sin; repentance (that part of it which respects God) turns the course of its motion toward God the end; faith directs it through Christ the way; love makes it move freely; desire, earnestly; joy, pleasantly; hope, confidently; humility, evenly; fear, circumspectly; patience, constantly and perseveringly. All conspire to give the soul a right disposition toward this blessedness. The result of them all is heavenliness—a heavenly temper of spirit. For they all, as so many lines and rays, have respect to a blessedness in God as the point at which they aim; and the point in which they meet is heavenliness. Howe.

12-16. Paul was at Rome precisely at that time when the Palatine was the most conspicuous spot on the earth, not merely for crime, but for splendor and power. This was the center of all the movements of the empire. Here were heard the causes of all Roman citizens who had appealed to Cesar. Hence were issued the orders to the governors of provinces and to the legions on the frontier. From the “Golden Milestone” below the palace the roads radiated in all directions to the remotest verge of civilization. C.—Paul writes that his imprisonment was favorable to the spread of the gospel. As his guards relieved one another, each told his comrades what he had heard from the apostle, so that the word of the cross became known to the whole imperial guard. In Rome also, it is true, there was no lack of Judaizing false teachers, who preached the gospel from impure motives, from envy and the spirit of contention. P. S.—It is clear that these men were personal enemies of Paul, and that in their efforts to promote the gospel their object was to frustrate the labors of the apostle and to form a party of their own in opposition to him. What self-renunciation must it then have required to enable Paul to rise so entirely above this personal relation that, forgetting the design against himself, he can rejoice with his whole heart that the One Christ, whom it is his sole desire to glorify, is preached, even though it be by his personal enemies! Thus everything pertaining to self gives place to that all-absorbing love to the Lord and to those for whom he gave his life. N.

18. True love rejoices in the truth, by whomsoever professed or disseminated. If Christ is preached, whether in pretense or in truth, it rejoices, yea, and will rejoice. It does not rebuke a man because he prefers to labor in a field different from that of his neighbor, or cut down the spiritual harvest with a different implement, or wear a costume somewhat plainer or more costly. It does not meet the report of a victory in the Christian cause with cold indifference, or with a hesitating approval, till it has first learned what particular sect has the agency or will receive the benefit. It nobly overlooks all such things. It plants itself on no such narrow grounds. Its object is not to make proselytes, but to save souls; not to count up converts to this or that dogma, but to honor the Redeemer of the world. Wherever, in whomsoever it can discern the lineaments of his blessed image, it welcomes him to communion and rejoices in his prosperity. This is the spirit of Christ and of his apostles. B. B. E.

19. The fact is, and it is one which all Christians should deeply ponder, “the supply of the Spirit,” the copiousness or deficiency of divine influence, is very much regulated by settled laws. The Spirit being once possessed, his subsequent donations are not matters of accident or caprice or of mere arbitrary sovereignty. There are always reasons for their being given or withheld, not only in the secret depths of the mind of God, but in the character and life of the individual, and in the condition of his mind in its relation to spiritual things. In Providence, certain principles, habits, states of mind, courses of conduct, have their appropriate results; in the spiritual life, certain principles, habits, courses of conduct, states of mind, have their appropriate results too—in each case, their gracious reward or equitable punishment, an issue at once fitting and inevitable. Hence, Christian men, men with a divine spiritual life in them, are to be held accountable for the condition of that life. The enjoyment of holy influence, by which this inner life is nourished and invigorated, is to be regarded as a thing which very much depends upon themselves. To have it is their privilege and duty. T. B.

20-25. The hand that wrote these words of faith and hope was chained to a Roman soldier; the eye that looked forward to the ineffable glory of being with Christ was shut in by the walls of a dungeon. But no chain could bind the spirit that here pours itself forth with such magnanimity of love, such triumph of devotion, which makes bonds witnesses for Christ, and the violence of adversaries a token that God’s deliverance is at hand. No dungeon could darken, no threats of execution could intimidate, the spirit which knew that to die would be gain. But, while faith thus triumphed over death, and love longed to depart and be with Christ, the apostle, in his master’s spirit of sacrifice, was willing to postpone his own glory to the good of the Church, and to preach Christ through pains and sufferings and patience, if thereby he might in-spirit others to the like joy of faith. J. P. T.

21. To me to live is Christ.** A bold figure, showing the mighty magnitude of that object in his esteem. He regarded all the grand truths and interests of religion as centering in Him, comprehended in Him; insomuch that his very name might stand equivalent to them all. His chief and immediate reference was to the important service which his prolonged life and apostleship would render to the Christian cause, and especially to the Christian converts to whom he was writing. But his thoughts would not turn solely on the benefit he would so impart to others. He would include the happiness which he would enjoy himself, the admiring and grateful contemplation of the personal excellence and glory and sublimity of the Messiah, the Son of God; that communion with Christ to which he and all the apostles so often refer with great emphasis of delight; the hope, the assured prospect of all that was in futurity for himself and for the world. All this he had as a devoted servant of Christ. J. F. —To die is gain. Christ was his life here; Christ was in him the hope of glory hereafter. It was this certain assurance of a risen Christ, this conscious relation to a risen Lord, which filled him with such confidence and exaltation in the prospect of death, which made him even “desire to depart,” that he might “for ever be with the Lord.” Perowne.

23. In a strait.** “For him to live was Christ”; that is, to do the work and serve the interest of Christ. For him “to die was gain,” that is, would be his own interest and reward. His strait was not, whether it would be good to live or good to depart, because both were good; but he doubted which of the two was most desirable. Nor was it his meaning to bring his own interest and Christ’s into competition with each other. By Christ, or the interest of Christ, he means his serving the churches of Christ upon earth. But he knew that Christ had an interest also in his saints above; and could raise up more to serve him here. Yet, because he was to judge by what appeared, and saw that such were much wanted upon earth, this turned the scales in his choice; and therefore, in order to serve Christ in the edification of his churches, he was more inclined, by denying himself, to have his reward delayed; at the same time well knowing that the delay of his reward would tend to its increase. [We add some touching and suggestive personal utterances. B.] If I am any way useful to the world, undeserved mercy hath made me so, for which I must be thankful; how long I shall be so is not my business to determine, but my Lord’s. If one flower fall or die, others in future summers shall arise from the same root. God will have other generations to succeed us; let us thank him that we have had our time. And could we, without selfishness, love others as ourselves, and God as God, it would comfort us at death to have others survive us, and the world continue, and God still be God, and he glorified in his works. Love would say, “I shall live in my successors; I shall more than live in the life of the world; and most of all, in the eternal life and glory of God.” Bax.

Desire to depart. The apostle’s expression was not uttered in a crisis of despondency, but evidently in a state of the calmest thought, and when he saw that he was successful in his important mission, and should continue to be so in living to prosecute it. In this state of mind he still said, to leave all this, and “to be with Christ, is far better”—“to die is gain.” To be “absent from the body” was, according to his faith, to “be present with the Lord.” The apostle was of the highest order of Christians. But to every real Christian, “to die is gain.” The being on the immortal side of death is gain to the believer; preëminently, the perfect deliverance from sin—every propensity of the animated, active, energetic spirit pointing only to good—pure, absolute, unminded good—so that an unlimited liberty may be given to all its tendencies—the attainment of immense knowledge, all of it, here, beyond the utmost reach of thought; the society of happy spirits of the human order and of the angelic; some far more bright and direct manifestation of the Divine Being and of the Mediator; an intense realization of what has been done and obtained for them by the redeeming mediation; the joyful and not impatient looking forward to what is to be revealed and conferred at the resurrection. How mighty the duty, how transcendent the interest, of directing our utmost energy to the end that death may be “gain” to us! J. F.

27. The apostle commences an exhortation to the Philippian saints regarding their calling and duty as citizens of the kingdom of heaven. The same idea of citizenship (in our version “conversation”) recurs in the end of the third chapter; and there may be a special reason for the use of such language in this Epistle. Paul writes from Rome, the greatest city of the world; and those to whom he writes are at Philippi, which was a Roman colonia, and, therefore, politically a miniature of Rome itself. It was there that the apostle alarmed the magistrates who had imprisoned him by announcing himself a Roman citizen (Acts 16). This incident must have been fresh in the memory of the Philippian believers as well as in his own, and in all likelihood suggested his appeal to them that they should bear themselves as the freemen of a holy city, and partakers of a heavenly calling. D. F.

All the admonitions which Paul gives the Philippians in reference to the Christian walk are comprehended in this one: that they should “walk in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ.” And what is required of them in their position, in the midst of a corrupt world, he points out in chapter 2:15, 16. Inasmuch, he says, as they are called to live as children of God in the midst of a corrupt world, they are called to maintain unsullied that divine life of which as children of God they have become participants. N.

As becometh the gospel of Christ. Meeting his countrymen in little groups, or one by one, Christ showed them what was in his heart, and showed them the ineffable beauty of a holy and blessed “conversation” with his Father, while they were yet fishermen and publicans, and reapers and water-carriers about their houses and fields. Before men knew it, he had planted a kingdom to fill and possess the earth—planted it just where alone it could be planted, in the living heart and will of certain individuals who had ceased minding earthly things, or minded heavenly things far more. And so precisely he meets us to-day. With all his spirit of sacrifice and mighty power of redemption, with the cross on his shoulders and the scar in his side, he comes to each one of us, and speaks. F. D. H.

29. Given to believe.** Why should faith, which is a work of man, not be at the same time a work of God? Why should not he who has granted pardon not also give faith? Should not all that leads to God come from God? They who admit this give him the glory more entirely by ceasing to regard faith as a merely human work, and by doing homage for it, as for everything else, to the Divine liberality. Under this reservation, which secures the honor of grace, they may frankly admit the necessity of faith; they may, without fear, term it a condition of salvation, recognize it as a work, as a moral work; in one word, think on the subject of faith as it is impossible not to think. A. V.

It is not more given us to believe on his name than it is to suffer for his sake; that is, our sufferings are the gifts, the privileges of his calling, the methods by which that calling is made sure, and we fitted for rest in him, as by a dying unto the world and a living unto him. As he was perfected through suffering, so are we; it is the end, the sweetening result of all he gives us to bear. H. H.