Philippians 4:8-22 (Wednesday Evening Bible Study)

Philippians 4:8-22

• Philippians 4:8-9
• 8 Finally brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable—if there is any moral excellence and if there is anything praiseworthy—dwell on these things. 9 Do what you have learned and received and heard from me, and seen in me, and the God of peace will be with you.
  • The human mind will always set itself on something, and Paul wanted to be quite sure that the Philippians would set their minds on the right things. This is something of the utmost importance, because it is a law of life that if we think of something often enough we will come to the stage when we cannot stop thinking about it. Our thoughts will be quite literally in a groove out of which we cannot jolt them. It is of the first importance that we should set our thoughts upon the fine things—and here Paul makes a list of them
    • There are the things which are true
      • Many things in the world are deceptive, promising what they can never preform, offering a false peace and happiness which they can never supply. We should always set our thoughts on the things which will not let us down
    • There are things which are honorable
      • The Greek word here is difficult to translate. It is the word which is characteristically used of the gods and of the temples of the gods
      • When used of an individual, it describes a person who moves through life as if the whole world were the temple of God
      • The word really describes that which has the dignity of holiness upon it. There are things in this world which are flippant, cheap, and attractive to those who never take life seriously; but it is on the things which are serious and dignified that Christians will set their minds
    • There are the things which are just
      • The word (dikaios) is defined by the Greeks as a person who gives to gods and to other people what is their due. In other words, it is the word of duty faced and duty done
      • There are those who set their minds on pleasure, comfort, and easy ways. The Christian’s thoughts are on duty to other people and duty to God
    • There are the things which are pure
      • The word describes what is morally uncontaminated. When it is used ceremonially, it describes that which has been so cleansed that it is fit to be brought into the presence of God and used in His service
      • This world is full of things which are sordid, shabby, soiled, and smutty. Many people develop a way of thinking that soils everything. The Christian’s mind is set on the things which are pure; the Christian’s thoughts are so clean that they can stand even the scrutiny of God
    • There are things which are lovely
      • It might be paraphrased as that which calls forth love. There are those whose minds are so set on vengeance and punishment that they cause bitterness and fear in others. There are those whose minds are so set on criticism and rebuke that they bring out resentment in others
      • Christians set their minds on the lovely things—kindness, sympathy, patience—so they are lovely people, whose presence inspires feelings of love 
    • There are things which are commendable
      • It is not easy to get at the meaning of this world. It literally means fair speaking; but it was especially connected with the holy silence at the beginning of a sacrifice in the presence of the gods. It might not be going too far to say that it describes the things which are fit for God to hear
      • There are far too many ugly, false, and impure words in this world. On the lips and in the minds of Christians, there should be only words which are fit for God to hear
    • If there is any moral excellence
      • The Greek here is one of the great classical words, but Paul usually seems to deliberately avoid it, and this is the only time it occurs in his writings
      • In classical thought, it described every kind of excellence. It could describe the excellence of the ground in a field, the excellence of a tool for its purpose, the physical excellence of an animal, the excellence of the courage of a soldier, and the virtue of an individual
      • It has been suggested that with this word, Paul calls in as an ally all that was excellent in the non-Christian background of his friends. It is as if he were saying; “If the idea of excellence held by the religions in which you were brought up has any influence over you—think of that. Think of your past life at its very highest, to spur you on to the new heights of the Christian way.”
      • The world has its impurities and degradations, but it also has its fine qualities and its brave actions, and it is of the high things that Christians must think
    • Finally, if there is anything praiseworthy
      • IN one sense, it is true that Christians never think of the praise of others, but in another sense it is true that every good individual is uplifted by the praise of good men and women. So Pauls says that Christians will live in such a way that they will neither conceitedly desire nor foolishly despise the praise of others 
  • In this passage, Paul lays down the way of true teaching
    • He speaks of the things which the Philippians have learned
      • These are the things in which he personally instructed them. This stands for the personal interpretation of the gospel, which Paul brought to them. 
    • He speaks of the things which the Philippians have received
      • The Greek means to accept a fixed tradition
      • This stands for the accepted teaching of the Church which Paul had handed on to them
    • From these two words, we learn that teaching consists of two things. It consists of handing on to others the accepted body of truth and doctrine which the whole Church holds; and it consists of illuminating that body of doctrine by the personal interpretation and instruction of the teacher
      • If we would teach or preach, we must know the accepted body of the Church’s doctrine; and then we must pass it through our own minds and hand it on to others, both in its on simplicity and in the significances which our own experiences and our own thinking have given to it
    • Paul goes further than that. He tells the Philippians to copy what they have heard and seen in himself. Personal example is an essential part of teaching. Teachers must demonstrate in action the truth which they express in words
    • Finally, Paul tells the Philippians if they faithfully do all this, the God of peace will be with them. It is of great interest to study Paul’s titles for God
      • He is the God of peace
        • This is his favorite title for God. To a Jew, peace was never merely the absence of trouble. It was everything which makes for a person’s highest good. Only in the friendship of God is it possible to find life as it was meant to be
        • But also to a Jew, this peace led especially to right relationships. It is only by the grace of God that we can enter into a right relationship with Him and with one another. The God of peace is able to make life what it was meant to be by enabling us to enter into fellowship with Himself and with other people
      • He is the God of hope
        • Belief in God is the only thing which can keep us from the ultimate despair. Only the sense of the grace of God can keep us from despairing about ourselves; and only the sense of the providence of God which rules over all things can keep us from despairing about the world. The hope of Christians is indestructible because it is founded on the eternal God
      • He is the God of patience, comfort, and consolation
        • There are two great Greek words here
          • Patience (hupomne), which never means simply the ability to sit down and bear things but the ability to rise up and conquer them. God is the one who gives us the power to use any experience to lend greatness and glory to life. God is the one in whom we learn to use joy and sorry, success and failure, achievement and disappointment alike, to enrich and to ennoble life, to make us more useful to others and to bring us nearer to Himself
          • Comfort and consolation are the same word (paraklesis). It is far more than soothing sympathy; it is encouragement. It is the help which not only puts an arm around someone but sends that person out to face the world; it not only wipes away the tears but makes it possible to face the world with steady eyes. It is comfort and strength combined. God is the one in whom any situation becomes our glory and in whom people find strength to go on gallantly when life has collapsed
      • He is the God of love and peace
        • Behind everything is that love of God which will never let us go, which puts up with all our sinning, which will never cast us off, which never sentimentally weakens but always vigorously strengthens us for the battle of life
  • Peace, hope, patience, comfort, love—these were the things which Paul found in God. Indeed, our competence is from God
• Philippians 4:10-13
• 10 I rejoiced in the Lord greatly because once again you renewed your care for me. You were, in fact, concerned about me but lacked the opportunity to show it. 11 I don’t say this out of need, for I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I find myself. 12 I know how to make do with little, and I know how to make do with a lot. In any and all circumstances I have learned the secret of being content—whether well fed or hungry, whether in abundance or in need. 13 I am able to do all things through him who strengthens me.
  • Here we find one of scriptures most misapplied and taken out of context verses.
  • As the letter draws to an end, Paul generously expresses his gratitude for the gift which the Philippians had sent to him. He knew that he had always been vey much on their mind, but up until now there had been no opportunity to show their concern for him
  • It was not that he was dissatisfied with his own state, for he had learned the gift of contentment. He uses one of the great words of Greek and Roman ethics, which means entirely self sufficient. Self sufficiency was the highest aim of Stoic ethics; by it the Stoics meant a state of mind in which an individual was absolutely independent of all things and of all people. They proposed to reach that state by a certain pathway of the mind
    • They proposed to eliminate all desire.
      • The Stoics rightly believed that contentment consisted not in possessing much but in wanting little. Socrates was once asked who was the wealthiest man, and he answered that it was he who is content with least, for self-sufficiency is nature’s wealth. They believed that the only way to contentment was to abolish all desire until a stage had been reached when nothing and no one was essential to life
    • They proposed to eliminate all emotion until all people had reached a stage when they did not care what happened either to themselves or to anyone else
      • They suggested looking at broken personal items, pain in a pet, or even yourself, and saying I don’t care. The thought was that if you go on long enough, and you try hard enough, you will come to a stage when you can watch your nearest and dearest suffer and die, and say; “I don’t care” The Stoic aim was to abolish every feeling of the human heart
        • What a miserable way to live
    • This was to be done by a deliberate act of will which saw in everything the will of God
      • The Stoics believed that literally nothing could happen which was not the will of God. However painful it might be, however disastrous it might seem, it was God’s will. It was, therefore, useless to struggle against it; it was necessary to steel oneself into accepting everything 
    • In order to achieve contentment, the Stoics abolished all desires and eliminated all emotions. Love was rooted out of life, and caring was forbidden. The Stoics made of the heart a desert, and called it peace
    • We see at once the difference between the Stoics and Paul
      • The Stoics said; “I will learn to be content by a deliberate act of my own will.”
      • Paul said, “I am able to do all things through Him who strengthens me.”
    • For the Sonics, contentment was a human achievement; for Paul, it was a divine gift. The Stoics were self-sufficient; But Paul was God-sufficient. Stoicism failed because it was inhuman; Christianity succeeded because it was rooted in the divine. Paul could face anything, because in every situation he had Christ; those who walk with Christ can cope with anything
  • Verse 13 is not about doing well on a test, or achieving something great in athletics. It’s about contentment. It’s about being able to handle any situation, no matter the outcome, because you’re content in Christ.
• Philippians 4:14-20
• 14 Still, you did well by partnering with me in my hardship. 15 And you Philippians know that in the early days of the gospel, when I left Macedonia, no church shared with me in the matter of giving and receiving except you alone. 16 For even in Thessalonica you sent gifts for my need several times. 17 Not that I seek the gift, but I seek the profit that is increasing to your account. 18 But I have received everything in full, and I have an abundance. I am fully supplied, having received from Epaphroditus what you provided—a fragrant offering, an acceptable sacrifice, pleasing to God. 19 And my God will supply all your needs according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus. 20 Now to our God and Father be glory forever and ever. Amen.
  • The generosity of the Philippian church to Paul went back a long way. In Acts 16-17, we read how Paul preached the gospel in Philippi and then moved on to Thessalonica and Berea. As far back as that, the Philippian church had given practical proof of its love for him. Paul was in a unique position with regard to the Philippians; from no other church had he ever accepted any gift of help
  • Paul says a fine thing
    • “It is not that I desire a present from you for my own sake, although your gift touches my heart and makes me very glad. I don’t need anything, for I have more than enough. But I am glad that you gave me a gift for your own sake, for your kindness will stand greatly to your credit in the sight of God.”
  • There generosity made him glad, not for his own sake but for theirs. Then he uses words which turn the gift of the Philippians into a sacrifice to God
    • A fragrant offering—That was a regular OT phrase for a sacrifice which was acceptable to God. It is as if the smell of the sacrifice was sweet in the nostrils of God. Paul’s joy in the gift is not in what it did for him but in what it did for them. It was not that he did not value the gift for its own sake; but his greatest joy was that it was that it and the love which prompted it were dear to God
  • In a last sentence Paul lays it down that no gift ever mad anyone poorer. The wealth of God is open to those who love Him and love their neighbors. Those who give make themselves richer, for their own gifts open to them the gifts of God
• Philippians 4:21-22
• 21 Greet every saint in Christ Jesus. The brothers who are with me send you greetings. 22 All the saints send you greetings, especially those who belong to Caesar’s household. 23 The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit.
  • The letter comes to an end with greetings. In this final section there is one intensely interesting phrase
    • Paul sends special greetings from the Christians who are in Caesar’s household
    • It is important to understand this phrase correctly. It does not mean Caesar’s family. It was the usual phrase for what we would call the imperial civil service; it had members all over the world. The palace officials, the secretaries, the people who had charge of the imperial revenues, those who were responsible for the day-to-day administration of the empire—all were Caesar’s household
    • It is of the greatest interest to note that, even as early as this, Christianity had penetrated into the very center of the Roman government. There is hardly any sentence which shows more how Christianity had infiltrated even into the highest positions in the empire. Already the first signs of the ultimate triumph of Christ were to be seen
  • Ad so the letter ends. “The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit.” The Philippians had sent their gifts to Paul. He had only one gift to send to them—his blessing. But what greater gift can we give to others than to remember them in our prayers?