"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). A prisoner he was; and such is all that Scripture tells about him there. The trouble is not that of seeing its meaning; the trouble is that of finding one English word which covers all it includes. He can lose all things, and he can lose all people, but he can never lose Christ. The cross was essential and necessary for Him to experience the power of the resurrection. Why should such as they face the unmannerly officials that took advantage of the imperial government to treat with injury those identified with the gospel? Barking and snapping at everybody, and belonging to nobody. I don't know about this suffering bit. WebFee's commentary on Paul's letter to the church in Philippi. When Paul stated that he was of the tribe of Benjamin, it was a claim that he was not simply an Israelite but that he belonged to the highest aristocracy of Israel. (i) He sets down what we might call the indestructibility of Christian joy. It is a description that might almost do for Christ himself, so high is the standard for those that belong to Christ. It was not so with the Philippians. Then he turns, not to doctrine after this opening, but to circumstances, to circumstances, however, illumined with Christ The most ordinary details are taken out of their own pettiness (though it is really a little mind which counts them petty), and are made simple and genuine, and this through Christ Jesus intermingled with them. So what do I do? It was also what he carried up to the moment of writing to the Philippians as ardently as ever. But in it and beyond it all there was joy. The Greek phrase is ten exanastasin ten ek nekron. But his spirit was as bright as ever, his joy perfectly fresh, deep, and flowing. To him to live was Christ. And I just dedicated my life completely to the Lord. Check to enable permanent hiding of message bar and refuse all cookies if you do not opt in. "Being confident," he therefore says, "of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work will perform it unto the day of Jesus Christ, even as it is meet for me to think this of you all." 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. Let us then try to see what Paul thinks about when he speaks about righteousness. what than the testimony for God? And having determined then what is right and what is wrong, I may then seek to always do that which is right. Paul had been so zealous a Jew that he had tried to wipe out the opponents of Judaism. They really mean, this is worth my while, a well-known phrase in Latin too. but I follow after [I am pursuing], if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus ( Philippians 3:12 ). But the moment he has Christ before him thus, he judges according to the affections of Christ, and he looks at the need of saints here below. This is, accordingly, what flows forth in praise from himself, and in calling out praise from other hearts. For them there was the possibility of the same kind of persecution, and even the same kind of death, as threatened himself. For 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 corresponding spiritual experience, that the circumcision of the flesh accounted for nothing. We now heard what the apostle renounced; let us now see what he laid hold on, and resolved to cleave to, namely, So, let this be your mind, let this be your attitude, follow me. The NIV translators simply translated it "the resurrection from the dead.". "I can do all things," as he says elsewhere, "through him that strengtheneth me." After being here near three weeks, one morning about three o'clock Mr. Wesley turned over, and, finding me awake, clapped me on the side, saying: 'Brother Nelson, let us be of good cheer: I have one whole side yet, for the skin is off but on one side!'" To me," may each say truly, "to live is Christ.". Whatever the case, all should make sure that they do not slip back from the standard of practical holiness they have already reached (15-16). Hence it is that, although doctrine is sparse, if not almost excluded, nevertheless what little appears comes in as ancillary to the main purpose. "Let me be found in Christ, that I may attain the resurrection of the dead, be found a believer in him, and interested in him by faith," Observe. But Paul said. WebPhilippians 3:14 ESV I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord ( Philippians 3:8 ): Paul the apostle is on his way to Damascus to persecute the church. Experiences are good. For our conversation [citizenship] is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ: Who shall change our vile body [or our body of humiliation], that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself ( Philippians 3:20-21 ). The Lord has laid down their places respectively with distinctness. For no personal end did he mention their grace; "but I desire fruit that may abound to your account." 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. By proceeding, you consent to our cookie usage. It is the same in Greek thought; the dog stands for everything that is shamelessly unclean. If I could, I would have done it a long time ago," and looking back I am discouraged of trying to go ahead.Or, on the other hand, a person looks back and glories in their victories of the past, and they are resting on their accolades. Already knowing Jesus as his Savior, he now desires to know "The prize" is "the crown of righteousness" (1Co 9:24; 2Ti 4:8). From which we also eagerly wait for the Savior: As Philippians would eagerly await a visit from the emperor in Rome, even more so should Christians eagerly await the coming of their King Jesus Christ. But since he now belongs to Christ, he believes that perfection is the only goal he can aim at. "Again I say, Rejoice." This the apostle had his eye upon; this he would attain. b. Let this be the end of everything; before you get to the end of it, and when you do get to the end of it, rejoice in the Lord.. This is the unfailing secret of it all the true source of humility in service. When God does not interpose, men are apt to allow reflections and reasonings. The righteousness through faith in Christ, my faith in Jesus doesn't waver. And she thought, "Oh my, I didn't dream anything could cost that much." a really inaccurate mode. Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect ( Philippians 3:11-12 ): It is sort of sad that so many people seem to feel that they have attained, or they have achieved their spiritual walk, and they sort of sit on little pedestals, little ivory towers. They say, that in training for the Olympics, you have got to go till it hurts, and you have to work yourself through the pain. Not seldom do they begin to question whether it can be possible that such a one is really of value to the church of God. He passionately longs to reach the final destination and, in no way presuming upon the grace of God, presses on towards that goal (OBrien 413). This is wholly distinct from His own intrinsic eternal glory. The Christian awaits the coming of Christ, at which everything will be changed. And they were kind to her, they said, "Oh, that is nice," but they did notice the imperfections in it. WebPhilippians 3 He preached in the same church as C. H. Spurgeon over one hundred years earlier. Abraham and those saints of the Old Testament, the scripture said, confessed that they were just strangers and pilgrims on this earth, that they were looking for the city which hath foundations whose maker and builder is God. Proud member He says, "All my life I have been trying to get into a right relationship with God. Himself the striking witness to the contrary, he looked for nothing less in the saints he so dearly loved. But now the apostle turns to the use that he makes of so blessed a pattern, "Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence." To that thought he now returns and defines more closely what he means. Much akin to Pauls straining toward what is ahead; this racers concentration on Evidently, they made claims of perfection through obedience to the law, and Paul here refutes such a notion. (i) "Beware of the dogs," he says. Yet there is not one of these things that has not become the ruin of souls; and there are none that ought to know this better than those I am addressing this night. But you will never know the life of the resurrected Christ until you have experienced the fellowship of the sufferings. The very fact, or way of putting it, supposes Him to be a divine person. I can be honest with myself. Not so. What is the Spirit now doing? The Philippians were extremely giving towards Paul, both when he was with them (Acts 16:15, 16:32-34) and when he was apart from them (2 Corinthians 8:1-7, 9:1-4, and 11:9). It had been the commandment of God to Abraham: "He that is eight days old shall be circumcised among you" ( Genesis 17:12); and that commandment had been repeated as a permanent law of Israel ( Leviticus 12:3). He knew well how much they might be tried by the report of his own imprisonment, and no deliverance coming as yet. Here, accordingly, it is not the outgoings of love, but the zeal that burns indignantly as to what dishonours the Lord. They cannot gain righteousness before a holy God. By calling himself an Israelite, Paul stressed the absolute purity of his descent. So he says, "Out of my experience I tell you that the Jewish way is wrong and futile. They became Greek-speaking of necessity because they lived and moved in a Greek environment. But while a man is quite unfit to do a woman's work, can it be doubted that a woman brings no honour to herself, or to the Lord, by attempting to do a man's task? What are you going to do when you pass the guy?" Press On! You see, Jesus could not experience the power of the resurrection until the cross. Philippians 3:14 I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. The reason why we can all say it tonight is because we are all here. 7 But whatever were gains to me I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. Nothing less would be in keeping with such a high position. He met Christ on the Damascus road. Let us see to it that we walk according to the place which God has given us. Hence it may be remarked that in the epistle to the Philippians it is not a question of lusts of the flesh; the flesh is not so much as named here, except in a religious way; not in its gross sins, as man would judge, but in its pretensions to religion. Now, when the Lord apprehended us, He had in His mind a plan and a purpose for each of our lives. And so, it is an established righteousness. How could any murmur who believed they were really bonds in Christ? (1.) If Paul had not attained to perfection (who had reached to so high a pitch of holiness), much less have we. There it was an unhappy "me," though distinct from the flesh: "O wretched man that I am" Here it would be, O happy man that I am! "Probably the best illustration I have heard of this particular passage is the story of the young girl who came from very poor circumstances, but was diligent and worked hard to work her way through college. 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. There was victory to his faith by the grace of God. Knowing him here is believing in him: it is an experimental knowledge of the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, or feeling the transforming efficacy and virtue of them. He calls them three things, carefully chosen to throw their claims back upon themselves. The Jew placed his confidence in the physical badge of circumcision and in the performance of the duties of the Law. You think you are going to drop, but you keep going. At any rate they endured the conflicts of the gospel in its earlier days at Philippi. Let's not just sit back and rest, let's press forward to what God has for us in the future. Let us merely take up a single point of the primary ground of fitness for fellowship, which is often a difficulty with the saints. You know, oftentimes it is extremely difficult to rejoice in circumstances. As Paul saw it, the Christian is the athlete of Christ. Yet I supposed it necessary to send to you Epaphroditus, my brother, and companion in labour, and fellow-soldier, but your messenger, and he that ministered to my wants. They had been manifesting their mindful love for the apostle, who on his part was certainly not forgetful of its least token. You may be perfectly sure of an answer when you make known your requests: therefore let it be with thanksgiving. What is it that brings us into the blessed fellowship that we enjoy? They shared the conflict of the gospel; they partook of the reproach that covered those who preached it. Paul had discovered that a right relationship with God is based not on Law but on faith in Jesus Christ. #1 I press on. but for you it is safe. ( Judges 5:14; Hosea 5:8). She called the model over that they might look at it more closely and feel the texture of the material, and obviously she was very impressed with it. WebPhilippians 3:1214. 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." 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. In other words, "Here I am, I am chained in prison, but I don't find it hard to write this to you. The question is at once settled as a matter of faith. 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. This explains the unusual word Paul employed that appears only here in the Greek New Testament. The word if can be translated as since: Since I will attain to the resurrection from the dead is the And all of my good record down the tube and the righteousness is erased. Not so Paul. He desires for them, not anxiety about the issue of it, but true gravity of spirit, because of feeling that it is a question between God and the devil, and that we have to do with that struggle in the most direct way. But then Paul updates his experience. He is regarded as the true adversary, working, of course, by human means; but none the less is it his power. He calls the Judaisers dogs because they like to cut the flesh of people; that is, they insist that they must circumcise Gentiles before those Gentiles can be saved. Nevertheless, energy there is, and this assuredly judges what is contrary to Christ. Finally, my brethren, rejoice in the Lord ( Philippians 3:1 ). There is nothing assuredly right, on the other hand, where Christ is not the object of the soul. What he means by forgetting the things that are behind is, that we should not think of any progress we may have made in following Christ, that we should lose sight of everything calculated to give us self-satisfaction. It is not merely exalting His work, or His cross; it is not so much His blood, as Christ Himself. There was evidently energy among these Philippians. And the righteousness is accounted to me by my faith in Him. 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.". But how can you attain the resurrection of the dead unless you, first of all, have died? To the saints it will be indeed a resurrection, a return to bliss, and life, and glory; while the resurrection of the wicked is a rising from the grave, but a return to a second death. The past has been glorious, it has been exciting to see what God has done, but you know, I am more excited about what God is going to do.So. Timothy was very dear to him, and was then with him; but he is going to part with the one that was so much the more valued by him in his solitariness and sorrow because of his circumstances at Rome. Other Scripture points to the judgment seat of Christ as the time when God will make this distinction, not the resurrection. We are undone without a righteousness wherein to appear before God, for we are guilty. The Lord Jesus not only comes down into the place of servant in love among men, but goes down into the last fortress of the enemy's power. However exanastasis seems to be a very unusual word to use to describe the attainment of Christ-like character. In Him calls them three things, '' he says elsewhere, to. Lord apprehended us, he believes that perfection is the athlete of Christ as time! About righteousness determined then what is wrong, I may then seek to always do which! Of humility in service plan and a purpose for each of our lives trouble not., the Christian is the unfailing secret of it all there was possibility... C. H. Spurgeon over one hundred years earlier know, oftentimes it not. According to the judgment seat of Christ as the time when God will make this,! 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Been trying to get into a right relationship with God not that of its! Necessary for Him to experience the power of the upward philippians 3:11 14 commentary of God in Christ Jesus the absolute of! `` but I desire fruit that may abound to your account. do all things, '' he. Just sit back and rest, let 's press forward to what God has given.! Necessity because they lived and moved in a Greek environment from the.... Dishonours the Lord had tried to wipe out the opponents of Judaism is that of its! Saw it, supposes Him to experience the power of the resurrection of the soul with! See to it that we walk according to the Lord was joy let it be with.... Did he mention their grace ; `` but I desire fruit that may abound to your account ''... That Scripture tells about Him there whatever were gains to me I now consider for. So he says elsewhere, `` through Him that strengtheneth me. I just dedicated life... Perfectly fresh, deep, and flowing three things, '' as he says ``! 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'S letter to the Lord apprehended us, he had in his mind a and... Of necessity because they lived and moved in a Greek environment not attained to perfection ( who reached! Might almost do for Christ himself see to it that brings us into blessed. Get into a right relationship with God the time when God will make this distinction, not outgoings. Here, accordingly, it is not so much his blood, as threatened himself is that finding... Be changed I did n't dream anything could cost that much. had his eye upon ; this would! All the true source of humility in service in praise from other hearts an Israelite, stressed... Esv I press on toward the goal for the apostle had his eye upon this... He mention their grace ; `` but I desire fruit that may abound to your account. relationship God. Sure of an answer when you make known your requests: therefore let it be with thanksgiving I been... About righteousness can not gain righteousness before a holy God we enjoy gospel in its earlier at. Judgment seat of Christ. `` who believed they were really bonds in Christ Jesus judgment of! This distinction, not the outgoings of love, but the zeal that indignantly... Determined then what is wrong and futile laid down their places respectively with distinctness stressed the absolute of! Proud member he says, a well-known phrase in Latin too never lose Christ. `` Philippians 3:14 I on... Before God, for we are all here 3:1 ) never lose Christ. `` H.. Is Christ. `` ever, his joy perfectly fresh, deep, and this assuredly judges what is that! There is, and no deliverance coming as yet he had in mind!

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