Philippians 4:6,7 - Do not be anxious

4:6

Anxiety and worry are problems that most people encounter. There are one or two individuals who seem to be happy-go-lucky worrying about nothing, but most of us, at least from time to time, worry about things, and some people are utterly debilitated by worry. Worry can come at any time, but especially when under pressure. Jesus spoke a lot about worry. In Matthew 6 He tells us that worrying is futile (as He also does in Luke 12:22-34), in the parable of the sower the worries of this life are one of the things that strangles growth.

So what are we to do about worry? One approach is to remember that there are usually others suffering much more that we are. This is particularly relevant for a lot of our irrational worry. A very practical thing to do is to see how you can bless or help someone else. Instead of praying about your worries all the time, pray for someone else. Give some money to a good cause. Seek to help someone in a practical way. All these things are good. However, if we look at Jesus’ teaching we see that this is not the focus. Instead there are two key elements to Jesus’ teaching on the subject. The first is that our Father in Heaven cares for and provides for us. The second is that we were called to a much greater purpose than just living for our daily needs.

Here Paul commands us not to worry, but instead to present our requests to God with thanksgiving.

4:7

So how do we get rid of anxiety? We don’t, God does! What do we so often do if we are troubled with anxiety? We try and control our feelings, we try and stop worrying, we try and change our state of mind and usually fail. The Bible gives us a different answer, it tells us that God is the one who guards our hearts and minds in Christ. So if we try and get rid of anxiety ourselves we will fail, if we let God do it we will succeed. So what are we to do? Do we do nothing? No, we look at 4:6 where it tells us to present our requests to God with thanksgiving. We get on with the work that God has given us to do and let Him take care of guarding our hearts and minds. You see, anxiety is one of the many disastrous fruits that came when we sold our souls to devil (which is what we did when we first sinned). Peace is one of the many good fruits that comes from being part of God’s family, living in His kingdom.

Philippians 4:4,5 - Rejoice!

4:4

This verse could be accurately described as the leitmotif of this letter, “Rejoice in the Lord, I will say it again: Rejoice!”. Remember that Paul was under pressure. He was in captivity with a possible death sentence hanging over him. Imagine if you were awaiting the results of tests for an incurable cancer, how would you feel? The Philippians were under pressure. There was external pressure on the church. Paul’s response to all this, and what he actually did in his own life, was to rejoice in the Lord. All the personal stuff in the first chapter is so important, for it shows that these are not empty words, not blind optimism, but the reality of Paul’s life. In any and every circumstance we can rejoice in the Lord. Now we have to be realistic. At first we may find it hard and seem to be making little progress, still feeling under the circumstances. But we should persevere, and eventually we will start to overcome, to get to the place where God wants us to be. We can be sure of this because Jesus actually is Lord!

4:5

When under pressure our natural reaction can be to react with grumpiness or aggression. Instead we should seek gentleness, part of the fruit of the Spirit (Gal 5:22,23). We can have an inner calm and peace. Why? Because the Lord is near. What does this mean? There are two applications. In Matthew 28:19,20 Jesus assures us that all power and authority has been given to Him, and that He will be with us always, even to the end of the age. Note that there He also commands us to make disciples of all nations. This is an encouragement to get on with the work of the gospel in confidence. Secondly, Jesus will return as Lord of all. It is God who will triumph, and we will share in that victory. So we should cultivate gentleness in our lives.

Philippians 4:1-3 - Stand firm

4:1

The Philippians were under pressure, and when we are under pressure we seek to find a way of coping with the situation. There are many options we try, some become aggressive, some retreat into a shell, some become defensive. Paul has shown them the way they should seek to cope. This is also the way we should seek to cope. See how Paul addresses them, he has not speaking to them as a sergeant-major or as a hard taskmaster, but as people he has genuine affection for. They are his joy and crown. Why does he say this? Because he sees the fruit of the gospel in their lives. There were dangers that needed warning against, and there were attitudes that needed correcting, but basically Paul was pleased with their progress. Finally in this verse he calls them “dear friends”. So they are to stand firm with love, joy and humility.

4:2,3

We now get a plea from Paul regarding a specific situation. Euodia and Syntyche are both female names and evidently there was some form of dispute between them. As an aside it is worth noting that they probably had some reasonably prominent position for it to merit Paul talking about in the letter. The situation with Paul and women, and indeed with women and church roles, is more complicated than we are sometimes led to believe. Paul was most definitely not a misogynist, and women had an active role in the development of the church in the New Testament. The women mentioned had worked alongside Paul for the cause of the gospel. The Clement mentioned is almost certainly not the Clement of Rome who was prominent in the church in the post-apostolic era, Clement being a very common name.

Philippians 3:20,21 - Citizens of heaven

3:20

Our citizenship is in heaven. Paul is drawing a parallel with Roman citizenship, a much prized possession and something that people were proud of if they had it, and sought to attain if they didn't. As Christians we are citizens of heaven, so we should seek to live by God's standards, and these have been supremely demonstrated in Christ. When we think of heaven we tend to think of "the place you go when you die", that is not the thought here, rather it is of the place of God's rule, His kingdom. We live as citizens of heaven, but in a world that is often hostile to God's kingdom. In this world we are waiting for Christ's return. He is our saviour and He will come as Lord of All. This waiting is not passive, but active. We live as God's people now, knowing that no matter how much the world detests us we will be vindicated.

3:21

Jesus is Lord of All, He has supreme power and this will enable Him to bring everything under His control. Christ will use this same power to transform our lowly bodies so that we will be like Him in His resurrected state. Remember that in Eph 1:19,20 Paul says the power that God exerted in raising Christ is the same power that is at work in us. We can be frustrated by our current state, by our weaknesses and sinfulness, but one day all this will be gone, and gone forever.

Philippians 3:18,19 - Enemies of the cross

3:18

There can be a misconception that everyone is basically nice and will try and do their best, then when we encounter true evil, which can be found in people, it comes as a shock. Paul was under no such illusions, knowing that there were many who lived as enemies of Christ. The default position these days seems to be that we should enter into dialogue with people of different views. Sometimes this is ok, but we also need to recognise that there are those who are living as enemies of Christ. People who deny the divinity of Christ, or deny the resurrection, those who advocate unbiblical sexual behaviour, those who use the gospel as a money making machine. In Paul's context there is debate over whether the specific people he was thinking of here were Judaizers or Gentile false teachers. Arguments can be made for both.

3:19

Paul is very clear about their destiny, destruction! The list of things here in v19 can be made to apply to Judaisers, but it seems to me that it fits more with licentious "Christians", ie those who took Christ's forgiveness as licence to live as they liked. Gluttony is one of the sins mentioned here. In fact, we should bear in mind that it is mentioned quite often in the Bible and is a serious sin. "There glory being in their shame" could be an allusion to sexual immorality, but could be referring to gluttony. The key point is that there mind, their focus, was on earthly things, and in the next verse Paul will contrast this with the attitude that we should have. When Paul attacks false teachers or other opponents of the gospel he often has a twofold aim, one is to make us aware of the error of their ways, the other is to point us to the truth.

Philippians 3:15-17 - Following my example

3:15

From time to time there are those who claim to be superior to other Christians. This claimed superiority can be based on some “special anointing” or some special knowledge, or whatever. The truth that Paul is expounding is that no one has made it. If we are truly mature in Christ then one of the things we know is our own sinfulness and frailty. We know that we have such a long way to go. It is like someone who has scored 4% in an exam boasting that he has got twice as many marks as someone with 2%. To do such a thing is nonsense, the truth is we all have a very long way to go. And if these supposedly superior people were truly listening to God, then they would become aware of this truth.

3:16

We are to live up to what we have attained so far. So what had they learned? They had come to Christ in repentance, trusting in His mercy, knowing their need of sanctification. Now there were some who were in danger of not continuing in that line, of instead becoming proud of their own abilities. If we do that we will lose what we have already gained.

3:17

Paul then urges them to follow his example. There were others who did this, and Paul encourages the Philippians to look to them as well. Those who boast proudly rarely have a lifestyle that matches up to their claims. But with those who humbly follow Christ there will be the fruit of the Spirit in their lives. Now see what Paul does. On the one hand he is warning against any who think they have made it, but at the same time he is not reluctant to tell people to follow his example. Paul had made progress, but he did so as one of them. If we think we have made it we are in big trouble, but it is equally in error to be happy with making no progress!

Philippians 3:13,14 - Pressing on

3:13

Paul states again that he has not achieved the goal. There is a possibility that there were those in Philippi who were claiming some sort of perfectionism, this is a false teaching that rears its head in various forms periodically in church history. “Forgetting what is behind”, probably refers to his past Jewish “achievements”, or possibly to earlier Christian “achievements”. Whatever the case, anything we have achieved in the past most definitely does not mean that we have made it. Instead we strain towards what lies ahead. Jesus is leading us onwards.

3:14

The term used here refers to an athlete in a race. Jesus has greater things ahead for us, much greater than anything we have already seen. The use of the term “to win the prize” does not mean we earn salvation, but when we are saved we are in no way to be passive. God’s salvation changes us, we are born again, it changes us into people who can start to live like we should live. So we are to put every effort into seeking to do God’s will. The NIV uses the term heavenward calling, the ESV upward calling, and the KJV high calling. We are called to something much greater than we already have, the Christian life can never be one of settling down, for there is a much greater prize ahead.