The Epistle to the Philippians differs from most of the epistles from the pen of the Apostle Paul, in that he does not describe himself as an apostle of Jesus Christ, but introduces himself and Timotheus as servants of Jesus Christ. What he writes is not so much the unfolding of doctrine as the describing the effect that the knowledge of Christ should have upon the believer, illustrated very much by his own experience.
It has often been said that in this epistle we get
CHRISTIAN EXPERIENCE,
though it is by no means the experience of every Christian. The reader may ask, Wherein lies the difference? Christian experience stands for experience flowing from the Christian life; in other words, that which is proper to a Christian. The experience of many a Christian may be, all too often, experience improper to a Christian.
For instance, if a believer rejoices in the Lord, that is Christian experience—experience proper to a Christian. But if a believer loses his temper or in any other way falls under the power of sin, that is an experience of a sort very improper to a Christian.
Surely we all covet Christian experience. Let us see how this works out in the epistle. We might put it under four heads:
Chapter 1—Christ our Life.
Chapter 2—Christ our Example.
Chapter 3—Christ our Object.
Chapter 4—Christ our Strength.
CHRIST OUR LIFE
The Apostle Paul could say, “For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain” (Phil. 1:21). Ever since that memorable day when the blind zealot, who thought he was doing God’s service by persecuting the church of God, was stricken down by the light above the brightness of the sun, and made the acquaintance of the Son of God, his whole life was altered. Not content with the gain of the gospel, with the knowledge of salvation, he surrendered himself, body and soul, to his newly found Lord, and served him diligently all his days, even at the expense of all a man naturally holds dear, and even of life itself.
Not to boast of himself, but as inspired of God, and for our example, he could testify “For to me to live is Christ,” not thinking of what he had done, but testifying rather to the absorbing influence of the Son of God that left him no option but to lay his all upon the altar of self-denying sacrifice as his truest and most everlasting gain.
Not all of us could say this. Can any of us say it? We may say it in measure, but the example is there for us. This is true Christian experience.
We can all say, “And to die is gain” we can say that because the death of Christ has won heaven for us, but can we say, “And to die is gain,” if it means leaving that for which we have lived more or less self-centred lives? If we have lived for money, or fame, or social distinction, or domestic happiness, or even a place in the assembly, and not for Christ these things will all be loss in the day of reckoning.
May we all be stirred and challenged by the apostle’s statement, “For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.”
CHRIST OUR EXAMPLE
The Apostle could exhort, “Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus” (Phil. 2:5). The apostle Paul may be our example in many ways, but when he gives us a definite example to follow, he gives us the only perfect One, the Lord Himself. He would fix our eye on Perfection alone. What an Example—One who was God, One who did not need to aspire to Godhead, as Satan dared to do and fell—One, who could be no higher for He was and is and ever will be God the Son! This One, “the mighty God,” stooped in lowly grace to the form of a bondslave, and then stooped still lower, till He touched the lowest place and became “obedient to death, even the death of the cross.” Was there ever such a stoop? What an amazing example! Can we, Christians, strut about in our littleness and boast of anything? Shall not the mind that dominated the Son of God dominate us? Shall pride of face, race, place, or even fancied grace have a power over us with such an Example compelling us to adoring worship? To ask the question is to answer it.
CHRIST OUR OBJECT
The apostle could say, “I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ” (Phil. 3:8).
Again the Apostle gives us His personal experience, or rather describes the attractive power of Christ, which drew him on in the heavenly race. The tides cannot boast of their flow and ebb, it is the irresistible draw of the moon that brings it about, so the apostle is drawn by an Object so glorious and attractive that he is urged along towards the goal. He could not help himself. He speaks of the loss of all things, but it was a loss that led to a marvellous gain. The things he surrendered, which men would count gain, he counted loss, nay, he went even further, and counted it as dung, refuse, that he might win Christ.
The aged apostle, a prisoner in Rome, with decaying bodily powers, with the stigmata of his sufferings for Christ scarred upon his worn body, was strong in spiritual force. Nearing the goal of his ardent desires, behold him, as with long powerful spiritual strides he eagerly presses forward. What else was worth living for? And what else is worth living for, in your case and mine? Look at things in the light of the immense gain the apostle’s surrender to Christ brought him, and go in for what is truly life.
CHRIST OUR STRENGTH
The apostle could say, “I can do all things through Christ which strengthened me” (Phil. 4:13). Christ was the apostle’s strength. Were he full, with no need, he could praise the Lord. Were he hungry and suffering the pinch of the very necessities of life, no complaint passed his lips, no reflection on God’s care for him passed through his mind. The testimony of this must have been very impressive. Christ was the Source of his quietness and complacency. It was as if he lived on an island, and needed not to import anything from the mainland in the way of moral support. Christ was enough at all times.
“Jesus, Thou art enough
The mind and heart to fill,
Thy patient life to calm the soul,
Thy love its fear dispel.”
May each reader realize the blessedness of having
Christ as his Life.
Christ as his Example.
Christ as his Object.
Christ as his Strength.
How happy then will you be, if this is the case.