CRITICAL AND EXPLANATORY NOTES
Philippians 2:14. Do all things without murmurings.—Without mutterings, as men who in cowardice dare not speak plainly what they think. We must consider the warning as against God on account of what He imposed on them both to do and to suffer. And disputings.—The word goes much deeper than the restricted meaning of “disputings.” It seems here to mean without first entering upon scrupulous considerings as to whether you are under any obligation thereto, whether it is not too difficult, whether prudent, and the like (Meyer).
Philippians 2:15. That ye may be blameless.—Sons of God they are already; they are now to become worthy sons. In the word “blameless” we have the idea of a character in which no grace is defective (Hebrews 8:7 is a good illustration. If the first covenant had been faultless, a second would have been superfluous). And harmless.—Christ’s own counsel. “Be harmless as doves.” Lit. the word means unmixed, unadulterated, and figuratively, artless. Of sophistries and the deep things of Satan he would rather they were in happy ignorance (Matthew 10:16; Romans 16:19). Without rebuke.—Vulgate, “immaculatum.” The word is originally a sacrifiical term. It describes the victim in which the keen inquisitorial eye of the official inspector has found no fault. So (1 Peter 1:19) of the Lamb of God, in the whiteness of spotless innocency. Crooked and perverse generation.—St. Peter uses the former word in his indictment of the men of his own day (Acts 2:40), and to describe cross-tempered masters (1 Peter 2:18). The Rabbins take the term “perverse” as used in Ecclesiastes 7:13 (LXX.) to denote those bodily deformed. Here, as in our Lord’s use (Matthew 17:17), of a moral nature all warped and knotted. Ye shine as lights in the world.—R.V. “ye are seen,” A metaphor from the heavenly luminaries (Genesis 1:14; Genesis 1:16; Matthew 5:14).
Philippians 2:16. Holding forth the word of life.—“If we are to look for any metaphor it would most naturally be that of offering food or wine” (Lightfoot). Why it should be at all events wholly unconnected with the preceding image in “lights in the world” one does not quite see. There is nothing objectionable in the thought of a star holding forth its beam to the mariner, or the benighted wayfarer, and it has the advantage of continuity of the metaphor in the verse previous. That I may rejoice in the day of Christ.—As good news of his convert’s fidelity was like a new lease of life to the worn apostle (1 Thessalonians 3:8), so his sweetest hope was to be able to stand before his Lord with his children by his side. Have not run … laboured.—Athletic terms familiar to St. Paul’s readers.
Philippians 2:17. If I be offered upon the sacrifice.—R.V. margin, “poured out as a drink-offering.” Whether the reference is to the cup of wine poured over the heathen sacrifice or the drink-offering of the Jewish is doubted, and is of little consequence, since in either case his meaning would be clear enough. And service.—Priestly function (Luke 1:23).
MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.— Philippians 2:14-18
The Lustre of a Blameless Life—
I. Suppresses all murmuring and doubt as unworthy of the children of God.—“Do all things without murmurings and disputings: that ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God without rebuke” (Philippians 2:14-15). As the sons of God, distinguished by so high and holy a calling, believers should be blameless and pure. Their spiritual integrity should lift them above the cause of blame. To be pure and blameless they must not yield to the spirit of dissatisfaction and doubt. “No matter what may tend to excite this spirit, it must not be indulged, whether the temptation to it be the divine command, the nature of the duty, the self-denial it involves, or the opposition occasionally encountered. There was neither grudge nor reluctance with Him whose example is described in the preceding verses, no murmur at the depth of His condescension, or doubt as to the amount or severity of the sufferings which for others He so willingly endured” (Eadie).
II. Sheds a guiding light in the midst of a dark world.—“In the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world; holding forth the word of life” (Philippians 2:15-16). The Philippians were to be a light and guide to their fellow-citizens, a people made up of Jew and pagan, moved by tortuous and perverse impulses. Nothing would please them: give them one argument, they cry for another; tell them of the simplicity of the gospel, they prefer you should dwell on its mysteries; speak of its power, they ask you to expound its charity. The children of God are to society everywhere what the heavenly luminaries are to the world—they are to diffuse light, and guide the way to a better life. The star which led the wise men to Christ, the pillar of fire which led the children of Israel into Canaan, did not only shine, but went before them. Believers shine by the light of the word which they hold forth, and that light is the guide to others. Virtue should shine in cities, not in solitudes. The Christian’s duty is here among men; and the nearer he draws to his fellow-men, so that his religion be real and true, the more good he is likely to do them. On the north coast of Cornwall and Devon is a lighthouse, which first of all was placed high upon the cliffs, where the mists and fogs often obscured and hid its brightness from the passing mariner in hours of the sorest need. So they took it down and built it afresh on the rock out at sea, amid the waves of that dangerous coast, there to shine where it was most necessary.
III. Supplies a prolific theme of ministerial joy.—
1. A joy complete when his work is finally appraised. “That I may rejoice in the day of Christ, that I have not run in vain, neither laboured in vain” (Philippians 2:16). The apostle had run with the eagerness of a racer in the Isthmian games—the prizes he sought, the souls of men; he had laboured with strenuous and persevering diligence—the wages he sought, the souls of men; and now looking by anticipation at the results of his apostolic toil, in the light of the great day of Christ, his greatest joy will be that his efforts have not been in vain. His joy then will be, not in the number and wealth of the Churches he founded, but in the spiritual progress and advancement of the members. The results of work for Christ are often in this world obscured and confused; but in the day of Christ all will be clear and the work seen in all its beauty and dimensions. The joy of success is often checkered and interrupted in this life; but yonder the joy will be complete and full. We shall share the joy of the conquering Christ.
2. A joy not diminished though life is prematurely sacrificed.—“Yea, and if I be offered upon the sacrifice and service of your faith, I joy, and rejoice with you all” (Philippians 2:17). The apostle’s image is that of an altar, on which the faith of the Philippians is laid by him as priest, while his own blood is being poured out as the usual drink-offering or libation. In the near prospect of martyrdom he has no gloomy anticipations. Death will not terminate his joy, but accelerate it, as it will admit him to realms where all is calm and joy and peace. Such is the triumph of the Christian spirit; it can rejoice in tribulation and in the very presence of death.
3. A joy in which his converts may share.—“For the same cause also do ye joy, and rejoice with me” (Philippians 2:18). So far from being dispirited by the prospect of his martyrdom, the apostle calls upon them to share his joy on account of the success of the gospel. How often in the changeful experiences of life are joy and sorrow mingled together. “Joy lives in the midst of the sorrow; the sorrow springs from the same root as the gladness. The two do not clash against each other, or reduce the emotion to a neutral indifference, but they blend into one another, just as in the Arctic regions, deep down beneath the cold snow with its white desolation and its barren death, you shall find the budding of the early spring flowers and the fresh green grass; just as some kinds of fire burn below the water; just as in the midst of the barren and undrinkable sea there may be welling up some little fountain of fresh water that comes from a deeper depth than the great ocean around it and pours its sweet streams along the surface of the salt waste” (Maclaren).
Lessons.—
1. A blameless life is the product of the grace of God.
2. Is a rebuke to the wavering and inconsistent.
3. Evokes the congratulations of the good in both worlds.
GERM NOTES ON THE VERSES
Philippians 2:15-16. Christians Examples to the World.—
1. Divisions and strife grieve the Spirit and darken those evidences of sonship which believers in a calm and peaceful temper of spirit used to see most clearly.
2. We stop the mouths of enemies when our conversation is such as may discover to others their failings, and point out that good way wherein they ought to walk.
3. Suitable practice joined with profession puts such a majesty and splendour on truth that every Christian is to profane men as the sun and moon are in the firmament.
4. The glory put on gracious souls at the day of judgment will add to the glory and joy of faithful ministers.—Fergusson.
Philippians 2:16. The Word of Life: a Living Ministry and a Living Church.
I. To apprehend the life of the Church we must apprehend the life of its Head.
II. A living ministry.—
1. Requires confidence in the office and work itself.
2. Distinctness of purpose.
3. A quick and profound sense of the nature and dignity of the soul.
4. One that preaches more than moral decency: preaches piety, regeneration, and faith.
5. Must not be afraid to assert what passes its own reason.
III. A living Church.—
1. A safeguard against dogmatism.
2. Formalism.
3. Partisanship.
4. Is a body whose life is the life of Christ in the soul.—F. D. Huntington, D.D.
Philippians 2:16-18. The Joy of Ministerial Success—
I. Sustained by the assurance of the final approval of his heavenly Master.—“That I may rejoice in the day of Christ” (Philippians 2:16).
II. Cheerfully sacrifices life itself in the successful prosecution of his work.—“Yea, and if I be offered upon the sacrifice and service of your faith, I joy, and rejoice with you all” (Philippians 2:17).
III. Shared by those who profit by his ministry.—“For the same cause also do ye joy, and rejoice with me” (Philippians 2:18).