"My desire is to know Him, and to be found in Him." What seemed to some the death of the gospel was in point of fact distinctly for the furtherance of it. The manner, too, in which these things happened seemed to make all as remote as possible from furthering the gospel; but here again he brings in Christ. It is worth noting in the passing that Bengel, one of the greatest interpreters of scripture who ever lived, translates this in a different way: "Become fellow-imitators with me in imitating Jesus Christ," but it is far more likely--as nearly all other interpreters are agreed--that Paul was able to invite his friends, not simply to listen to him, but also to imitate him. Why, then, is it so in the next instance? Its basis is that the Christian lives for ever in the presence of Jesus Christ. (ii) It means to know the fellowship of his sufferings. If Jehovah so served, it was but natural that He should be made Lord of all, and so He is. There is real power, there is strength from God that works in the saint; but the feelings of Christ, the mind of Christ morally, is better than all energy. "Rejoice in the Lord alway: and again I say, Rejoice." Even he who knew them well marvelled that they were so soon shifting, not only from him, but from the gospel, after he left them. There is the present joy of Christ; but this does not content the soul. You see, there would be no security in that kind of righteousness at all. Thus with salutations of love he closes this most characteristic and cheering even of Paul's epistles. Nothing less would be in keeping with such a high position. WebPhilippians 3:11. A burning zeal for God was the hall-mark of Jewish religion. The scriptures affirm clearly the assurance of salvation; yet: Paul wants to impress upon us the difficulties, struggles, and hindrances that attend the believers life. 2. I blew it. "Don't know what is going to happen tomorrow, so hey, I will jump this ship and get on this one and I will gladly throw overboard the old life, with the struggle and the effort in my flesh, in order to live this new life after the Spirit, believing and trusting in Jesus Christ, to do for me what I really can't do for myself. So, she decided that she would make for herself a new dress for the senior prom. Paul had certain people that seemed to follow him wherever he went, trying to pervert that which he taught of the grace of God, especially the Jewish legalizers who sought to bring the people back to a legal relationship with God, putting them under the law. It is something that I could have never made for myself, but it was given to me by Lady Bountiful. They shared the conflict of the gospel; they partook of the reproach that covered those who preached it. But in truth it may betray itself in doctrine and practice in various shapes. himself had been sick? The resurrection of the dead. They stubbornly refused to be assimilated to the nations amongst whom they lived; they retained faithfully their own religion and their own customs and their own laws. But then this monumental statement. At this point Paul repeats warnings that he gave the Philippian church some time earlier concerning Judaisers. There was evidently energy among these Philippians. All Commentaries Videos Images Devotionals Other Translations Sermons Related Scriptures Podcasts Blogs. That is to say, he will never glory in any of his achievements or use them as an excuse for relaxation. But I trust in the Lord Jesus to send Timotheus shortly unto you, that I also may be of good comfort, when I know your state. Energy is not the best or highest aspect of Christianity. This is the righteousness whose source is in God; it is also by faith of Christ, and not through the law, which, of course, would have man's righteousness if it could. Barking and snapping at everybody, and belonging to nobody. This is not the same as to say that he was a true Israelite. This counting on the Lord the apostle might have even where things were wrong. They were "manifest in all the palace, and in all other places; and many of the brethren in the Lord, waxing confident by, my bonds, are much more bold to speak the word without fear. We fully respect if you want to refuse cookies but to avoid asking you again and again kindly allow us to store a cookie for that. He forgot himself in the gospel. It is always the power of Satan that is in view here. There is great reason to think that the arose from those who thought it necessary to the sense, and did not see that it could be fetched from the in . Israel was the name which had been specially given to Jacob by God after his wrestling with him ( Genesis 32:28). It was not thus that the true-hearted Philippians felt; and spiritual feeling is worth more than all reasoning. In modern speech that would mean that the body is an utterly evil and horrible thing; but vile in sixteenth-century English still retained the meaning of its derivation from the Latin word vilis which in fact means nothing worse than cheap, valueless. It can be a very dangerous thing.On the other hand, I can recognize that I have a problem with sin, with myself, with my flesh. Thus, as at the beginning of the chapter, there was the energy that went out against the evil workers, with a religious mind after the flesh, so now there is the energy that bursts forth against those that were misusing Christianity, making it an earthly system, setting their mind on things here below, under the name of the Lord Jesus; and between the two, is set forth the positiveness, if one may so speak, of Christ Himself. And she was so excited over the fact that she had been able to labor and work and make her way through college and was going to be graduating. We love him because he first loved us,1 John 4:19. And Jesus said, "Get thee behind me, Satan, you offend me." It was so with the apostle. I can't believe what they did to me. He is encouraged to keep moving towards this goal by his knowledge that final victory over sin, suffering and death is certain (10-11).Paul knows that he will not reach perfection in this life. He says that they had happened rather for the furtherance of the gospel, "so that my bonds in Christ are manifest;" for this is the way in which he looks at it "my bonds in Christ." I have transcribed this note at length, because it is a fair sample of Dr. Surely there must have been something seriously wrong to judge in him! Hence the conflict is never with internal evil, but rather with Satan. There will be a resurrection of the unjust, who shall arise to shame and everlasting contempt; and our care must be to escape that: but the joyful and glorious resurrection of saints is called the resurrection, kat exochen--by eminence, because it is in virtue of Christ's resurrection, as their head and first-fruits; whereas the wicked shall rise only by the power of Christ, as their judge. Their gift to him was "an odour of a sweet smell, a sacrifice acceptable, well-pleasing to God." Let us therefore, as many as be perfect [would be complete], be thus minded [let this be in your mind] ( Philippians 3:14-15 ): Let this be the same rule for your life. We may request cookies to be set on your device. In the Christian life there is no room for a person who desires to rest upon his laurels. Give me the power," and we are so power-hungry. Every teacher must be more anxious to listen to God than to propagate his own opinions or he, too, will run the risk of being a worker of evil, even when he thinks that he is a worker of righteousness. But it gives us also the effect of Christ in the saints eventually of Paul himself, of Timothy, of Epaphroditus, and indeed of the Philippian saints. To know Christ means that we share the way he walked; we share the Cross he bore; we share the death he died; and finally we share the life he lives for evermore. The story of the beginning of that sign is in Genesis 17:9-10. This is the only allusion, as far as I know, to flesh in this epistle, but it is flesh in its religious form, and not as a source of evil lusts and passions. How could any murmur who believed they were really bonds in Christ? Because these cookies are strictly necessary to deliver the website, refusing them will have impact how our site functions. Let your moderation go along with it, because along with this joy there might be a certain enthusiastic spirit that would hinder calm judgment. They are enemies to the cross of Christ, not to Christ Himself, but to that aspect of suffering with Him,". But now he adds, "That I may know him" (speaking of entrance by faith into communion with Christ)" that I may know him, and the power of his resurrection." Christ was Son of God in a sole and supreme sense. out-resurrection). You will never get into a right relationship with God by your own efforts in keeping the Law. Otherwise, the experience is invalidated.I really am not so much interested in what happened to you thirty years ago, twenty years ago, or ten years ago. Paul had been so zealous a Jew that he had tried to wipe out the opponents of Judaism. In the Bible the dog always stands for that than which nothing can be lower. I love that phrase. And now he would have them looking to Christ, that no damp should gather round their hearts from anything that might befall him, that nothing which happened, whether to themselves, to other saints, or even to the apostle, should interfere for a moment with their unclouded and abounding confidence in the Lord. Let me look at another as he is in Christ. In Php_3:15 he again uses teleios ( G5046) and says that this must be the attitude of those who are teleios ( G5046) . And this ground is one which always brings in the strength of the Holy Ghost, as it is based on God's mighty work of redemption. Not so: Christ is always better; and so says he, "Fulfil ye my joy, that ye be like-minded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind. He did feel it. If the Christian really walks with Christ, he walks with joy. The great feast of Purim, which was observed every year with such rejoicing, commemorated the deliverance of which the Book of Esther tells, and the central figure of that story was Mordecai, a Benjaminite. In effect Paul is saying that the Christian must forget all that he has done and remember only what he has still to do. But, Lady Bountiful, seeing her interest in it, said to the clerk, wrap it up and have it sent to the car.When she got back to the dorm, she went into her room and she carefully unwrapped this dress, put it on; it fit perfectly. This is, accordingly, what flows forth in praise from himself, and in calling out praise from other hearts. "Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord.". "But my God shall supply all your need." This chapter then looks for the working of the gracious feelings of Christ Himself in the Christian individually, showing us, first, the fulness of them all in Christ in contrast with the first Adam. His view in all which was, that he might attain to that glorious and happy state of the resurrection of the dead in Christ, Php 3:11, and to prevent mistakes, and anticipate an objection that might be made to him, as if he ascribed perfection to himself in the present state, he owns he had not arrived to it: all he meant was, that it was his desire to enjoy that which Christ had laid hold on him for; in order to which he buried in oblivion what was past, looking and pressing to things before hint, even to Christ, and the glory he was called unto, which was with him, Php 3:12-14. (2.) If then, matter is essentially evil, the body is essentially evil and will remain evil whatever you do with it. Jeremiah speaks of the uncircumcised ear, the ear that will not hear the word of God ( Jeremiah 6:10). . She laid the thing out, carefully cut it out, but she really had never sewn anything before. "Not," says he, "that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am," this is the great design of the epistle; it was not truth that was made known simply, but experience that was grown into "I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content. Perhaps he meant he wanted to experience suffering for Christs sake and was even willing to die for Him to arrive at his resurrection in a manner that would enable him to face His master unashamed. "I'll show you a mystery, we are not going to all sleep, but we are all going to be changed in a moment, in a twinkling of any eye. He therefore puts all his energy into his efforts to reach this goal, just as a runner strains every muscle to reach the finishing line and gain the prize (12-14).Mature Christians will have the attitude to life that Paul has just outlined. Another view is that Paul was hoping that he would persevere faithfully in his quest to know Christ until he died. Quite suddenly Paul's accent changes to that of warning. There is no epistle in the New Testament which gives so little space to the development of. Paul has not yet reached it. Not having my own righteousness, my works through the law, but now the righteousness which is of God by faith, that righteousness which is imputed to those who believe, that righteousness that Abraham had when God imputed his faith for righteousness.Now, I can endeavor to be righteous before God by my own works and efforts. This epistle is therefore eminently instructive to those who could not have an apostle with them. The Jews would be quite sure that they were workers of righteousness. Real circumcision is devotion of heart and mind and life to God.". Reasonings on such matters are in general miserably wrong. For no personal end did he mention their grace; "but I desire fruit that may abound to your account." Philippians 4:1-23 is founded on both. The apostle takes up, no doubt, the sweet affections of chapter 2, but then they are strengthened by the energy that Christ seen in glory imparts, as in chapter 3. Hence he thus opens, "Therefore, my brethren dearly beloved and longed for, my joy and crown." Father, I would that those who You have given to me, to be with me here, would also share with me in the Kingdom. or are there mingled ways and mixed motives? Within the Church there were two sets of people to whom these accusations might apply. (See Romans 1:4.) Not in a figurative sense, the resurrection from the death of sin to a life of grace, of which Christ is the efficient cause, for this the apostle had attained to; unless the consummation of that spiritual life, in perfect holiness, should be intended, than which nothing was more desirable by him; nor in a representative sense, for this also he enjoyed in Christ his head, being risen with him, and in him, when he rose from the dead; but in a literal sense and designs not the general resurrection of the just and unjust, which he believed; for he knew that everyone must, and will attain to this, even Pharaoh, Judas, and the worst of men; but the special and particular resurrection of the righteous, the better resurrection, which will be first, and upon the personal coming of Christ, and by virtue of union to him, and in a glorious manner, and to everlasting life and happiness: and when the apostle says, "if by any means" he might attain to this, it is not to be understood as if he doubted of it, which would be inconsistent with his firm persuasion, that nothing should separate him from the love of God, and with his full assurance of faith, as to interest in Jesus Christ; but it denotes the difficulty of attaining it, since through various afflictions and great tribulations a believer must pass, before he comes to it; and also the apostle's earnest desire of it, and strenuous endeavour for it; not caring what scenes of trouble, or sea of sorrow what fiery trials, severe sufferings, or cruel death he went through, so be it he obtained as he believed he should, the glorious and better resurrection; he counted not his life dear to himself, he loved it not unto death, having in view the blissful and happy state after it. They were more obedient in his absence than in his presence. Shall we turn now in our Bibles to Philippians 3 .Again, remember that the background of this epistle, Paul is chained to a Roman soldier in Rome, in prison, writing to the Philippians. ), . that is miserable to God, we can go on delighting in the goodness of God, as well as in its fruits. c. The Lord Jesus Christ: The title Lord was also applied to the Roman Caesar. And to be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is of the law, but the righteousness which is of God, through faith. Their true and constant progress was what the apostle had before his own soul in prayer for them, instead of coolly giving up the saints, as if the new nature must grow feebler day by day as if the things of the world must overcome faith, and the things which are seen outweigh those which are unseen and eternal. It would be the equivalent in England of saying that he came over with the Normans or in America that he traced his descent to the Pilgrim fathers. This is our conformity to his death. In the days of the early Church it is quite often used to describe martyrs. *There is no reasonable doubt that the received text is wrong, followed by the Authorised Version ("of," instead of "from" the dead). "The one preach Christ of contention supposing to add affliction to my bonds: but the other of love, knowing that I am set for the defence of the gospel. WebPhl 3:1-3. I can be honest with myself. You listen to John Piper. "Let your moderation be made known unto men." Codd. WebPhilippians 3:14 ESV I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. and the fellowship of his sufferings ( Philippians 3:10 ). ", Blessed is this confidence in Christ, and wondrous are His ways! That which is holy must never be given to dogs ( Matthew 7:6). Not our keeping hold of Christ, but his keeping hold of us, is our safety. The apostle takes up, no doubt, the sweet affections of chapter 2, but then they are strengthened by the energy that Christ seen in glory imparts, as in chapter 3. 1Pe 5:4, "a crown of glory that fadeth not away." "Let's not get too," Paul said, "involved in the world. They began with the principle that from the beginning of time there had always been two realities--spirit and matter. You can have these things of your flesh, you know. This he must wish for them, if he wished them well. i. I. They want to tell you that you ought to be prosperous, you ought to be successful, you ought to be living in luxury, you are God's child, you ought to be indulging your flesh. , what flows forth in praise from Himself, but to that of warning out the opponents Judaism. Remember only what he has done and remember only what he has done and remember only what he still!, not to Christ Himself, but his keeping hold of us is... 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