CRITICAL AND EXPLANATORY NOTES
Philippians 1:19. This shall turn to my salvation.—“Salvation in the highest sense. These trials will develop the spiritual life in the apostle, will be a pathway to the glories of heaven” (Lightfoot). Meyer prefers to render “will be salutary for me, without any more precise modal definition.” Supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ.—“The Spirit of Jesus is both the giver and the gift” (Lightfoot).
Philippians 1:20. Earnest expectation.—Same word again in Romans 8:19 (not again in New Testament). “It is the waiting expectation that continues on the strain till the goal is attained” (Meyer). The intensive in the compound word implies abstraction from other things through intentness on one. Put to shame.—As a man might be who felt his cause not worth pleading, or as one overawed by an august presence. With all boldness, i.e. of speech. A man overpowered by shame loses the power of speech (see Matthew 22:12).
Philippians 1:21. For to me to live is Christ—The word of emphasis is to me, whatever it may be to others. If this be not the finest specimen of a surrendered soul, one may seek long for that which excels it. That life should be intolerable, nay inconceivable, except as the ego merges into Christ’s; this is the sanest and most blessed unio mystica (Galatians 2:20). And to die is gain.—It is the purely personal view—“to me”—which the apostle has before him. “The spirit that denies” says, that when all that a man hath has been bartered for life, he will think himself gainer. “More life and fuller” is what St. Paul sees through the sombre corridor. It is not simply the oblivious repose where “the wicked cease from troubling” that he yearns for. Nor is it a philosophical Nirvâna.
“For who to dumb forgetfulness a prey
This pleasing, anxious being e’er resigned?”
Philippians 1:22. But if I live in the flesh, this is the fruit of my labour (see R.V.).—“The grammar of the passage reflects the conflict of feeling in the apostle’s mind. He is tossed to and fro between the desire to labour for Christ in life and the desire to be united with Christ by death. The abrupt and disjointed sentences express this hesitation” (Lightfoot).
Philippians 1:23. I am in a strait betwixt two.—I am laid hold of by two forces drawing in opposite directions. “Desire” draws me away from earth; your “necessity” would keep me in it. As in the old mythology everything bowed before Necessity (ἀνάγκη), so here the apostle’s desire is held in check by the needs of his converts. To depart.—As a ship weighs anchor and glides out with set sails, or as a tent is struck by the Arabs as they noiselessly steal away. To be with Christ.—St. Paul regards the soul, whilst in the body, as a “settler” in a land of which he is not a native, an “emigrant” from other shores. But he would rather emigrate from the land of his sojourn and settle with the Lord (2 Corinthians 5:6; 2 Corinthians 5:8). “We come from God who is our home.” “As soon as I shall have taken the poison I shall stay no longer with you, but shall part from hence, and go to enjoy the felicity of the blessed” (Socrates to Crito). Which is far better.—R.V. “very far.” How far from uncertainty is the eager estimate of the life with Christ! It is one thing to extol the superiority of life away from the flesh in a Christian hymn, whilst health is robust; it is quite a different matter to covet it with the sword of martyrdom hanging over one’s head.
Philippians 1:25. I know that I shall abide.—Not a prophetic inspiration, but a personal conviction (Acts 20:25).
MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.— Philippians 1:19-26
The Noble Attitude of a Sufferer for the Truth.
I. The hostility of false brethren tends to the enlargement of the truth, whatever may be the fate of the sufferer.—
1. He is assured of personal blessing from the Spirit through prayer. “For I know that this shall turn to my salvation through your prayer, and the supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ” (Philippians 1:19). The apostle already sees how his troubles and suffering may develop his own spiritual life and be a pathway to the glories of heaven. By the prayers of God’s people he looks for an abundant supply of the Spirit, by whose agency his salvation will be perfected. The enemies of the good man cannot rob him of his interest in Christ, and suffering only adds new lustre to every Christian grace. The Port Royalist exclaimed, “Let us labour and suffer; we have all eternity to rest in.” Paul, who, fighting with wild beasts, was a spectacle to angels and men, could reckon that “the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that shall be revealed in us.”
2. The greatness of Christ is set forth by the courage given to the sufferer, though uncertain of what awaits him.—“According to my earnest expectation and my hope, that in nothing I shall be ashamed, but … Christ shall be magnified in my body, whether it be by life, or by death” (Philippians 1:20). With the earnest expectation and hope of future glory, the apostle had no need to be ashamed of his work for God or of God’s work in him; but he regarded his sufferings, not as a setting forth of his own goodness, but of the glory of Jesus, who gave him strength and fortitude to endure. It is in tribulation that the grace of Christ is most conspicuous. The Redeemer was perfected through suffering; so are His followers.
II. The alternative of life or death presents a problem the sufferer is unable to solve.—“What I shall choose I wot not. For I am in a strait betwixt two” (Philippians 1:22-23).
1. Life has great attractions.—
(1) Christ may be further exalted. “For to me to live is Christ” (Philippians 1:21). life is an opportunity for setting forth Christ, and this is done by carefully copying His example. “As I stood beside one of the wonderful Aubusson tapestries,” says Eugene Stock, “I said to the gentleman in charge, ‘How is this done?’ He showed me a small loom with a partly finished web upon it, and said that the weaver stands behind his work, with his materials by his side, and above him the picture he is to copy, exactly thread for thread and colour for colour. He cannot vary a thread or a shade without marring his picture.” It is a glorious thing for us to have a perfect life for example by which to form our lives. And we cannot vary a hair-breadth from that example without injuring our lives.
(2) More results of Christian work may be gathered. “But if I live in the flesh, this is the fruit of my labour” (Philippians 1:22). The best use of life is to employ it in working for God. Work done for Him will remain when the worker is forgotten. In ministerial work we may garner the most precious fruits.
(3) Help may be afforded to others. “Nevertheless to abide in the flesh is more needful for you” (Philippians 1:24). Paul was the pioneer and founder of Christianity among the Gentiles, and the young Churches looked to him for leadership and counsel. It seemed every way desirable that for their sakes his life should be continued. No one felt this more keenly than himself, though he was assured that if that life was prematurely terminated the cause of the gospel was safe in the hands of God.
2. Death admits to superior advantages.—“To die is gain” (Philippians 1:21). Even by his death Christ would be glorified, and the apostle admitted not to shame or loss, as his enemies supposed, but to a state of blessed reward.
“Sorrow vanquished, labour ended,
Jordan past.”
“Why should I fear death?” said Sir Henry Vane, as he awaited his execution; “I find it rather shrinks from me than I from it.”
“Death wounds to heal; I sink, I rise, I reign;
Spring from my fetters, fasten in the skies,
Where blooming Eden withers in my sight.
Death gives us more than we in Eden lost.”
Young.
III. The undaunted sufferer is confident of continued opportunities of advancing the joy of believers in the truth.—“And having this confidence, I know that I shall abide and continue with you all for your furtherance and joy of faith, that your rejoicing may be more abundant” (Philippians 1:25-26). This assurance was verified by the apostle’s return to Philippi on his release from his first captivity. “Man is immortal till his work is done.” Life is short, and every moment of its duration should be spent for God and the good of others. Shall we repine at our trials which are but for a moment? “We are nearing home day by day,” wrote General Gordon. “No dark river, but divided waters are before us, and then let the world take its portion. Dust it is, and dust we will leave it. It is a long, weary journey, but we are well on the way of it. The yearly milestones quickly slip by, and as our days so will our strength be. The sand is flowing out of the glass, day and night, night and day; shake it not. You have a work to do here, to suffer even as Christ suffered.”
Lessons.—
1. The highest virtues are not gained without suffering.
2. Suffering for the truth strengthens our attachment to it.
3. Suffering for the truth is often a means of spreading it.
GERM NOTES ON THE VERSES
Philippians 1:20. Christ the Christian’s Life.
I. Christ was the recognised Source of the apostle’s life.
II. Christ was the supreme Object of the apostle’s contemplation.
III. The glory of Christ was the great end of the apostle’s endeavours.—H. Simon.
Philippians 1:21. The Christian’s Life and Death.
I. The Christian’s life.—
1. It is a life in Christ.
(1) Begun in regeneration.
(2) Realised by faith.
(3) Sustained and increased by divine knowledge.
2. It is a life for Christ.—
(1) The example of Christ is its model.
(2) The will of Christ is its laws.
(3) The glory of Christ is its end.
II. The Christian’s death.—
1. The Christian’s death is a gain by being deprived of something.
(1) Deprived of the sinful body.
(2) Freed from temptation.
(3) From his enemies.
(4) From suffering.
(5) From death.
2. The Christian’s death is a gain by acquiring something.—
(1) Accelerated liberty to worship God.
(2) The ultimate addition of the glorified body with its exalted form and powers.
(3) The blessed reunion and fellowship with departed friends.
(4) The presence and companionship of Christ for ever.
Christian Life and Death.
I. The apostle’s language exhibits the proper scope and character of all truly Christian life.—The end and substance of the Christian life is Christ.
II. What Christian death is and how it ought to be regarded.—Death is not simply altered life. It is life elevated and ennobled. It is gain compared with life in the flesh. Death raises the saint to be with Christ.
III. The text puts Christian life and death before us regarded as an alternative.—Whether life be more or less desirable, less or more desired, it should be spent under the strong and penetrating assurance that to die is gain. Be death ever so desirable, it is our own fault if the happiness of life does not more than counterbalance the trial of it.—J. D. Geden.
“For to me to live is Christ.” Enthusiasm for Christ.
I. Enthusiasm for Christ in the home-life.
“The highest duties oft are found
Lying upon the lowest ground;
In hidden and unnoticed ways,
In household work on common days,
Whate’er is done for God alone
Thy God acceptable will own.”
II. Enthusiasm for Christ in public life.
“Trust no future, howe’er pleasant,
Let the dead past bury its dead;
Act, act in the living present,
Heart within and God o’erhead.”
III. Enthusiasm for Christ in Church-life.
“Come, labour on,
No time for rest till glows the western sky,
While the long shadows o’er our pathway lie,
And a glad sound comes with the setting sun,
Servants, well done!”
J. M. Forson.
The Christian’s estimate of living and dying.
I. The Christian’s estimate of living should be a life in Christ.—
1. A life of which Christ is the Source.
2. A life of which Christ is the Sustainer.
3. A life of which Christ is the Sphere.
II. The Christian’s estimate of living should be a life for Christ.—
1. A life spent in labouring for Him alone.
2. A life of continued suffering for Him.
3. A life of daring everything for Him.
III. The Christian’s estimate of dying should be that it is gain.—
1. Because death leads to closer and more uninterrupted union with Christ.
2. Because death lands the true believer in absolute security.
Lessons.—
1. In some sense the utterance of the apostle is true of every Christian.
2. In its full sense it is only true of pre-eminent Christians.
3. The more it is true of any, the happier and more useful Christians they are.—Homiletic Quarterly.
The Believer’s Portion in both Worlds.
I. The believer’s life.—
1. Is originated by Christ.
2. Is sustained by Christ.
3. Is spent to the glory of Christ.
II. The believer’s end.—
1. The gain of sorrows escaped.
2. The gain of joys secured.
Lessons.—
1. Improve life.
2. Prepare for death.—C. Clayton, M.A.
Philippians 1:23-24. Willing to wait, but ready to go.
1. The two desires.—
1. To depart and be with Christ.
(1) The exodus from this life by dissolution of the body—“to depart.”
(2) Christ’s presence the immediate portion of His people when their life on earth is done—“to be with Christ.”
2. To abide in the flesh.—It is a natural and lawful desire. The love of life—it is not necessary, it is not lawful to destroy it. Let it alone to the last. The way to deal with it is not to tear it violently out, so as to have, or say that you have, no desire to remain; but to get, through the grace of the Spirit, such a blessed hope of Christ’s presence as will gradually balance and at last overbalance the love of life, and make it at the appointed time come easily and gently away.
II. A Christian balanced evenly between these two desires.—“I am in a strait betwixt two.” The desire to be with Christ does not make life unhappy, because it is balanced by the pleasure of working for Christ in the world; the desire to work for Christ in the world does not make the approach of dissolution painful, because it is balanced by the expectation of being soon, of being ever with the Lord.
III. Practical Lessons.—
1. This one text is sufficient to destroy the whole fabric of Romish prayer to departed saints.
2. The chief use of a Christian in the world is to do good.
3. You cannot be effectively useful to those who are in need on earth unless you hold by faith and hope to Christ on high.
4. Living hope of going to be with Christ is the only anodyne which has power to neutralise the pain of parting with those dear to us.—W. Arnot.