In Him, we, know, who was the perfect model in the same warfare, which He fought single-handed, conquering for God's glory and for us, the prince of this world came, and had nothing in Him, absolutely nothing. Hence he desired that their conversation should be as became such zeal; "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 together for the faith of the gospel; and in nothing terrified by your adversaries: which is to them an evident token of perdition, but to you of salvation, and that of God.". Remembering that, we try to paraphrase this passage and to set down, not so much what Paul says, as what was in his mind. "Let your requests," whatever they may be, "be made known unto God;" and not only so, but "with thanksgiving." Habitually, indeed throughout this epistle, we find the word " me," and a very different "me" from the "me" of Romans 7:1-25. The dogs were the pariah dogs, roaming the streets, sometimes in packs, hunting amidst the garbage dumps and snapping and snarling at all whom they met. 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. The tribe of Benjamin had the place of honour in Israel's battle-line, so that the battle-cry of Israel was: "After thee, O Benjamin!" Copyright 2023, Bible Study Tools. Because this is going to bring him an estrangement from his cronies back in Jerusalem that he has been going around with.Paul is writing this epistle to the Philippians some thirty years after the Damascus road experience. Long before them, Mill had given his judgment in favour of the more ancient reading; and Wetstein repeated it apparently with approval. And so yes, I want to know the power of the resurrection, but if I am to experience that, I have got to, first of all, experience the fellowship of the suffering, the death on the cross, the death to my old self, my old nature. It cannot be till the Christ is risen according to the pattern of Christ Himself. He is God equally with the Father. WebPhilippians 3:1214. So it is true with us. To know Christ means for him certain things. Indeed that which had drawn out the epistle was the proof that the trying circumstances of the apostle had but called out their affections. As citizens of heaven we keep in communication with our native home. And what did the apostle do with all this roll of fleshly advantages? And at this point we also say, "Ya, ya, power, I want power. But he said those things which were so important to me, those things for which I lived. Hence it is that, although doctrine is sparse, if not almost excluded, nevertheless what little appears comes in as ancillary to the main purpose. "I beseech Evodia" (we may just notice the true form in passing; Euodias sounds like a man's name, whereas here it is really a woman). I just did a dumb thing, I ran through a red light and hit somebody and I am being sued for a million dollars. Hers is a more delicate place than that which becomes the man, and one which a man attempting it would awkwardly fill. Philippi was a Roman colony. "Well, I didn't finish it, but I ran in it." Most preachers begin with the serious handicap that they have to say, not, "Do as I do," but, "Do as I say." She couldn't buy a dress, but she really didn't have much money to buy very good material. Impossible that anything done by other saints should turn to one's acceptance any more than what is done by himself The apostle uses salvation throughout his letter to the Philippians (nor is it confined to this scripture only) in the sense of the complete and final triumph over all the power of Satan. Returning, however, to the women Evodia and Syntyche, they had devoted themselves to an exceedingly happy and prized service. Hence he at once begins, not with a doctrinal preparation after the introduction, but the introduction brings us as usual into the general spirit if not special object of the epistle. This place throughout is one of promoting, enlarging, deepening, and purifying the experience of the saints themselves in that which filled his own heart with joy in the Lord. Many different commentaries state that of all the groups that Paul wrote to, Phillipi was probably the best of them all. The apostle's aim in these actings: I press towards the mark, for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus,Philippians 3:14; Philippians 3:14. Does he question the assurance of his salvation? What might you and I have thought of such? Phinehas had saved the people from the wrath of God, and been given an everlasting priesthood, because he was zealous for his God ( Numbers 25:11-13). We need to draw from God, the spring and the only supplier of power that can resist the devil; but, at the same time, that we have the devil to resist in His power is a conviction that may well demand "fear and trembling;" and this, lest in such a conflict we should let in anything of self, which would at once give a handle to the devil. forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before ( Philippians 3:13 ), We haven't seen anything yet. In any case, indeed, to the Christian, death is gain; but he could best say it who could say, "To me to live is Christ," who could say it not merely as the faith of Him, but as a matter of simple, unconstrained, spontaneous enjoyment of Christ in practical ways. Paul warns that they are there, they were there in Paul's day; they are there today. What then? At the same time he intimates his value for their love, and takes care that his was independence founded on dependence, an independence of circumstances which finds its strength in simple and absolute dependence upon God. Furthermore the resurrection he said he hoped to attain was still future whereas he had already experienced spiritual resurrection with Christ to newness of life (Romans 6:1-11; Galatians 2:20). So he says here, "For the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung." The reason why we can all say it tonight is because we are all here. We have only begun to see the work of God; we have only begun to see the glory of God poured out. The lad had found a joy which not even the scaffold could take away. And, at best, I can develop a self-righteousness. In the Bible the dog always stands for that than which nothing can be lower. But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ ( Philippians 3:7 ). If any other man thinketh that he hath whereof he might trust in the flesh, I more [If anyone might have something to boast in the flesh. Who they were is not certain. a really inaccurate mode. what than the testimony for God? For the prize of the high calling. Here Paul rounds upon these Jewish teachers who were seeking to undo his work. He is regarded as the true adversary, working, of course, by human means; but none the less is it his power. But how can this be unless the heart is perfectly at ease as to itself? Farewell, farewell, sweet hour of prayer. Alter and Matthaei followed according to their plan the manuscripts before them; but the latter was too good a scholar not to feel the difference, though he appears to impute it to a corrector for the sake of elegance in his second edition. God never can fail; and the very trials that would seem to crush all hope for the glory of Christ on the earth are the precise occasions in which God proves that after all it is He alone who triumphs, while man always fails even if he be an apostle. But the phrase, the resurrection of the dead, also might be used, in a more limited sense, to denote the resurrection of the righteous as a most desirable object; and this might be secured by effort. WebPhilippians 2:1-5. (iii) We place no confidence in merely human things. Thus then he writes, telling them, "I would ye should understand, brethren, that the things which happened unto me have fallen out rather unto the furtherance of the gospel." But then, worse than that, this judgmental spirit. 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. For many walk, of whom I have told you often, and now tell you even weeping, that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ." but so it was that thus the gospel, the glad tidings of His grace, should reach the highest quarters. The effect of their teaching was to take men further away from God instead of to bring them nearer to him. Yes, the power of the resurrection, but you know, you can never know the power of the resurrection until you have, first of all, know the cross. In fact, he had gone beyond. 13 Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, 14 I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. And she saw this young girl, modeling her dress and she said, "Would you mind going with me?" "I thank my God for my whole remembrance of you," says he, after his usual salutation and wish, "always in every prayer of mine making request for you all with joy.". A prisoner he was; and such is all that Scripture tells about him there. And He said, "I am Jesus. 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. But then Paul updates his experience. In the days of the early Church it is quite often used to describe martyrs. Jesus wasn't resurrected until he first went to the cross. Is this the life that is practically exercised? To write the same things to you, to me indeed is not grievous, but for you it is safe. So, the exhortation in the scripture is always that of rejoicing in the Lord. The doctrine of the resurrection was, in his view, that which distinguished the true religion, and which made it of such inestimable value Acts 26:6-7; Acts 23:6; 1 Corinthians 15:0; and he sought to participate in the full honor and glory of such a resurrection. But such things as I could humanly reckon as profits, I came to the conclusion were all loss for the sake of Jesus Christ. Nothing less would be in keeping with such a high position. His desire above all was that Christ's name might go forth. Philippians 4:1-23 is founded on both. Thus we see here the power of a risen and a heavenly Christ, not now treated doctrinally as in 1 Corinthians 15:1-58 or 2 Corinthians 5:1-21 and elsewhere, but as that which bears on the Christian for the constant experience of every day. He did feel it. "I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord." Breaking Down the Key Parts of Philippians 3:14. So here at the beginning he simply takes the place of servant with Timothy, owning all the saints as well as the officials in their place: "To all the saints in Christ Jesus which are at Philippi, with the bishops and deacons." Hence that which judged and put aside religion after the flesh, righteousness after the law, all that was now left completely and for ever behind, and the saint is set on the road that nothing can satisfy him but being in the same glorious condition with Christ Himself. How lovely that even such a man should speak, not merely of his own prayers, but of theirs, turning all to such account. It is not achieved by any man but given by God; not won by works but accepted in trust. "Rejoice in the Lord alway." Now, circumcision is only a sign in the flesh, something done to a man's body. The Lord knew exactly what He intended for you to do. This were to spoil all, because it would please the flesh. The history of the Jews had dispersed them all over the world. Observe, Those who think they have grace enough give proof that they have little enough, or rather that they have none at all; because, wherever there is true grace, there is a desire of more grace, and a pressing towards the perfection of grace. By proceeding, you consent to our cookie usage. WebPhil 3:12-14 (NIV) These verses flashed through my mind last night as I watched the intense focus of an Olympic competitor in the downhill slalom race compete for the gold. "According to my earnest expectation and my hope, that in nothing I shall be ashamed." I love that phrase. It does not matter how unlike they may be, or how opposed; it does not matter what vessels of shame and misery they may have been now; "He is able to subdue all things unto himself.". And many people have never experienced the power of the resurrected life, because they have shied away from the fellowship of the suffering and of the crucified with Christ life. Let me look at another as he is in Christ. Proud member He has a plan for your life now, and we should be as Jesus, who said, "I must be about my Father's business." The great characteristic of these colonies was that, wherever they were, they remained fragments of Rome. For them there was the possibility of the same kind of persecution, and even the same kind of death, as threatened himself. So, then, Paul is saying, "I found the Law and all its ways of no more use than the refuse thrown on the garbage heap to help me to get into a right relationship with God. In other words, "I experienced it thirty years ago, and I had a turn-around in my life, and all of the past legalism and legal relationship with God, and all of those endeavors in my own flesh, the works of my flesh, I counted loss. He is exalting Christ. The lost must bow; the devils must bow; the lake of fire must own the glory of Him who has power to cast them there, as it is said, "unto the glory of God the Father." WebFor we are the circumcision, which worship God in the spirit ( Philippians 3:3 ), Paul was constantly emphasizing that the physical rites had no value except there be a Many hence have wrongly gathered that they were preachers. The very language Paul uses to describe the Law--excrement--shows the utter disgust for the Law which his own frustrated efforts to live by it had brought him; and the joy that shines through the passage shows how triumphantly adequate he found the grace of God in Jesus Christ. I can do all things through him who strengtheneth me." That he might be found in him (Philippians 3:9; Philippians 3:9), as the manslayer was found in the city of refuge, where he was safe from the avenger of blood, Numbers 35:25. So unbelief interprets, but most assuredly it is wrong. *There is no reasonable doubt that the received text is wrong, followed by the Authorised Version ("of," instead of "from" the dead). Christ was Son of God in a sole and supreme sense. John Nelson was one of Wesley's most famous early preachers. (1.) (i) He says that he is trying to grasp that for which he has been grasped by Christ. Christ is the sovereign balm for every wound; and it was the apostle's joy, whatever men's spirit might be, not only to enjoy Christ himself, but that His name was being proclaimed far and wide by many lips, that souls might hear and live. Paul was probably speaking of the Rapture. exanastasin, lit. "I want to know him; I want to know him completely." Work hard at doing that which is right. Other Scripture points to the judgment seat of Christ as the time when God will make this distinction, not the resurrection. Wednesday of Fifth Sunday in Lent Our Savior/Redeemer Pettibone/Woodworth, ND: Wed, Mar 31, 2004 cold and nakednessbesides the other things, what comes upon me daily: my deep concern for all the churches" (2 Cor. Now, Paul said in his Roman epistle, "I know in me, that is in my flesh, there dwells no good thing." I can't get over that. Annotations in loc.) It is the proof that his promise to be with us always to the end of the world is true. Notwithstanding, it has been already explained that the man has a relative place as the image and glory of God, being set in a remarkable position between God and the woman in matters of outward decorum. And what is this but the unfolding of the truth in the heart and in the ways of the Christian? From one point of view it looked as if Christianity was a grim job. The Gnostics were heretics who tried to intellectualize Christianity and make a kind of philosophy out of it. He had learned practically what Christ is, and what He does, and what He can enable even the least to do, (as he says himself, "less than the least of all saints,") and so much the more, because the least in his own eyes. The effect upon the individual is usually pride and the developing of a judgmental attitude.As the Pharisee who went in before the Lord and said, "Father, I thank you that I am not as other men. Another view is that Paul was hoping that he would persevere faithfully in his quest to know Christ until he died. "Beloved, now are we the sons of God, but it doesn't yet appear what we are going to be, but we know when He appears, we are going to be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is" ( 1 John 3:2 ). Knew exactly what he intended for you to do more delicate place than which! Merely human things not won by philippians 3:11 14 commentary but accepted in trust not by!, because it would please the flesh this young girl, modeling her dress and she said, would... 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