I. Is this the same Apostle who wrote above, I have a desire to depart and to be with Christ, which is far better? Does he account it a mercy on the part of God which withdraws a Christian man from the immediate fruition of the inheritance of the saints in light? The words are so; and lest we should too much qualify their meaning or say that the mercy spoken of was shown not to the man himself, but to those around him, who needed his ministration or might be benefited by his life, he adds immediately after, "and not on him only, but on me also, lest I should have sorrow upon sorrow." We may gather from this saying an illustration of the naturalness of the word of God. However bright the light which the Gospel throws upon the world beyond death, and however dim by comparison the glory which shines upon the present, still life is a blessing, and still death is an enemy. To speak of death itself as a pleasure is a fantastic and unreal language; to speak of a recovery from sickness as a misfortune is as contradictory to the language of the Bible as it is to the voice of nature within.
II. The word of God has ever two aspects. If God wills this, it is well for the Christian, and if God wills the opposite of this, yet for the Christian it is well still. If he lives, that is the fruit of his labour; he can still work on, gather in more souls for Christ, shine more brightly himself as he holds forth the word of life: and if he rises not, if he lives not, if he passes only from his bed to his coffin, from his chamber to his grave, even then then even more, shall we say? God had mercy on him, saw that he was meet for the inheritance above, and therefore, by a transition sharp but blessed, bade him enter in and rest for ever in the Lord.
C. J. Vaughan, Lectures on Philippians,p. 167.
References: Philippians 2:29. W. Braden, Christian World Pulpit,vol. v., p. 225.Philippians 2 Homiletic Quarterly,vol. v., pp. 103, 558. Philippians 3:1-11. J. J. Goadby, Christian World Pulpit,vol. xvi., p. 90. Philippians 3:2. J. N. Norton, The King's Ferry Boat,p. 225.