Bible Commentaries
Philippians 1

Verses 1-2

Good-day, friends. It’s a real joy for me sit down with you again to talk about the wonderful things of our Saviour, about the revelation of His own Word to our hearts. What a joy we have to share this precious Word which He has given to us and in which He has revealed His Person, His work, His purpose, His plan, and even that which He will do through eternity.

I say it’s a wonderful thing that God should give to us in such simplicity and such clarity the Word of God. And then—to top it off—He also gives to us His Holy Spirit, the Author of Scripture, to indwell us that He might teach us and bring things to our remembrance and take the things of Christ and show them unto us.

Then remember the Spirit of God is in youjust as He is in me and all God’s people—for the purpose of making known to your mind and my mind, to make real in our lives, the wonders of His grace and the marvels of His purpose and plan. I tell you, when I think of what God has done for us, it makes one want to get down and just worship Him. What a Saviour! What a Lord! And the tragedy is that too many of us Christians are living like paupers when we ought to be living as those who are sons and heirs of the living God!

Oh, that we might in some way know something of this life of rejoicing in the Lord always. Paul says, “And again I say, rejoice!” And by the way, this is one of the keynotes of this Philippian epistle, written from jail where a man chained to soldiers talks about rejoicing, talks about joy, talks about hope, talks about the marvel of God’s salvation.

We’re starting today a new series of studies in the book of Philippians.

You remember in our discussion of the book of Romans, we noted the relationship of these books the one to the other for Ephesians, Philippians, and Colossians, these three Epistles of Paul, are an entity. They deal with Christ and His people, the Church. In the book of Ephesians we have the revelation of the church, the body of Christ. It is something that was hidden in God from past ages but now is made manifest through his servant Paul.

The doctrine of this book of Ephesians is guarded for us in the book of Colossians, written not only to guard that church against vain philosophies, mysticism and false legality but also to get their eyes occupied with Christ as the head of the Church. Now, in between these two books we have this little book of Philippians, four chapters, a small Epistle that is full of joy.

Philippians guards the practice of Ephesians. In other words, Philippians is the book of Christian experience. It is the one book in the New Testament that is entirely given over to Christian experience. And you will notice, as you read these four chapters, he’s talking about the enjoyment of Christ.

Someone has well said, “The Spirit-filled life is the enjoyment of divine life.” And the key word of Philippians is “rejoice.” “Joy” and “rejoicing” are used, I think, about 18 times in the Epistle. Rejoicing is the keynote of Christian experience. It speaks of joy, even in suffering. For you remem­ber that the Apostle Paul when he went down to Philippi was cast into jail. He suffered while he was in Philippi. And when he wrote the Epistle, he wrote it from Rome while he was in jail. And yet, the keynote of it all is joy and rejoicing.

Now most of us, when we get into trouble, we growl. We murmur. But to me it’s been an amazing thing as I have thought of this precious book of Philippians that joy is the keynote of real Christian experience. And the Lord wants us to be a happy people, a hopeful people, and a rejoicing people, even in the midst of affliction and sorrows, misunderstandings and testings.

Now, I wish that you might turn with me to the book of Acts chapter 16 where we have the history of this church at Philippi. The Apostle Paul had gone down through Phrygia and Galatia and was hindered or forbidden by the Spirit of God to preach the Word in Asia. And after they were come to Mysia, Paul and his party tried to go down to Bithynia. The Lord suffered them not. He just hin­dered them. And then they came on down to a place called Troas on the edge of the Aegean Sea. And that night a vision appeared to Paul.

There stood a man of Macedonia who said to him, “Come over into Macedonia, and help us.” And after he had seen the vision, immediately Paul and his party took a ship, left Troas and made a straight course to Samothracia and then to Neapolis and then to Philippi, one of the chief cities of Macedonia. It was a colony. That means it was controlled from Rome. And they were there certain days (Acts 16:6-12).

And following that, you have Paul going on the Sabbath day down to the riverside where there was a prayer meeting. I take it there was no synagogue in the city of Philippi because there were not enough Jewish men to start a synagogue. You couldn’t start a synagogue with fewer than 12 Jew­ish men. So the women used to go down to the side of the river and have a prayer meeting. Paul found out where the prayer meeting was, and he went down and preached to the women. And then you have the story of Lydia, the first Christian in Europe, a successful business woman. And I read in verse 14 of chapter 16 of Acts:

Acts 16:14. And a certain woman named Lydia, a seller of purple, of the city of Thyatira, which worshipped God, heard us: whose heart the Lord opened, that she attended unto the things which were spoken of Paul.

Acts 16:15 And when she was baptized, and her household, she besought us, saying, If ye have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come into my house, and abide there. And she urged us to come in.

And after that you have opposition to the Gospel by Satanic powers. A woman who was de­mon possessed, you remember, followed Paul and Silas. And Paul cast the demons out of her. And then you have the opposition of the world where he and Silas were cast into jail and then delivered.

If I might just take a moment here in this 16^th chapter of the book of Acts. It’s a wonderful thing to know that Paul received the vision of a man of Macedonia, saying, “Come over and help us,” and he got there and found a group of women. Wasn’t there a man in the crowd? It’s an amazing thing how through the years God has taken women and used them in this matter of prayer? I think one of the greatest ministries that a person can have is in prayer. And here at Philippi there was a group of godly women who used to meet just for prayer. And what better place for Paul to go and expound the scriptures.

And I want to say that when you come into this chapter, you find some hungry hearts at a prayer meeting. God turned Paul away from the teeming lands of Asia just to attend a women’s prayer meeting. And it’s a marvelous thing.

You know, I’ve often times thought, what if Lydia had missed the meeting. She would have missed hearing God’s message for her. Do you ever stop to think about that? Every time you Chris­tians miss a meeting, you miss something. I know you may have many, many excuses. You are very, very busy and when you go to a meeting you get nothing out of it. Why don’t you go to give some­thing?

Prayer meeting is a time when God’s people co-operate together at the throne of grace. And I want to say to you, my friend, that most Christians miss so much because they don’t meet with God’s people. In fact, there’s a verse in Hebrews 10:25 where Paul says that we are not to neglect the assembling of ourselves together as the manner of some is. “And so much the more as you see the day approaching” (verse 25). That is, the more you look for the coming of the Lord, the more you want to meet with God’s people. And Paul, here, found some very hungry hearts for God. And, my, if Lydia had missed the meeting, she would have missed hearing God’s message through Paul.

Now, notice the kind of people that were in the Philippian church. You’ve got a business woman of wealth and culture. And afterwards you’ve got a rough, Roman jailor who had beaten Paul and Silas, but who was transformed by the power of the Gospel. And, as you go on, you have the re­sult of the Gospel. These folk were rejoicing in the Lord. You see the fruit of the Gospel. They went on praising Him. They were all in Christ and were all knitted together in Him.

And then you’ve got the opposition to the Gospel; and note that Paul refuses to have the tes­timony of the demons speak concerning our Lord Jesus Christ.

You say, “Well, wasn’t this good publicity? Wasn’t the testimony good?”

Yes.

“Then why stop it?”

Because it’s not God’s order for demons to testify concerning His Son.

As you read through Paul’s life, Paul was just like his Master. Just as the Lord suffered for others, so did Paul. That’s all I’m going to say about the history of the church. It started in Acts chap­ter 16. And the kind of people who were in the church included a successful business woman and a brutal Roman jailor. I just suggest this to your heart.

Now, let’s come to the book of Philippians chapter 1, and let us just read the first two or three verses.

Philippians 1:1 Paul and Timothy, the servants (the bond-slaves) of Jesus Christ, to all the saints in Christ Jesus which are at Philippi, with the bishops and deacons:

Philippians 1:2 Grace be unto you, and peace, from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ.

Here you have the introduction to the Epistle showing how grace is given to us and peace from God the Father and from our Lord Jesus Christ. You see, peace is the result of grace. There are a great many people today who have no peace of heart. There are many professing Christians who have no peace of heart. You know why? Because they’re not trusting the grace of God. Peace is always the result of grace.

What do we mean by grace? It means that we accept what God has done for us on the ground of grace, gratis. Christ has completed a full salvation for men and women. You can’t add to it, and by the way, you can’t take from it. God offers you a perfect, complete salvation. And until you and I come into a right relationship with the Saviour, we’ll never enjoy peace. Is it not a wonderful thing that you and I can have peace with God? One of the very first things we have when we accept the Saviour is peace.

In Romans chapter 5 the first verse, Paul could write, “Therefore being justified (being de­clared righteous) by faith, we have peace with God.”

And Jesus could say in John 14:27, “My peace I give unto you, not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.”

In Ephesians 2:14 I read, “For He is our peace.”

You see, God wants you to have real peace, but the only place you’ll find peace is when you accept the grace of Christ.

As Ephesians 2:8-9 say, “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of your­selves: it is the gift of God: not of works, lest any man should boast.”

If we work to get salvation, we’ll never have peace because we never know when we’ve done enough.

Is it not, I say, wonderful that God should offer you a salvation that’s complete, that’s perfect and it can be yours by accepting Jesus Christ as your own personal Saviour.

And for you who have access to the Saviour, you revel and you rejoice in the Lord Jesus Christ.

And you read this book of Philippians through.

And remember the great key word is “rejoicing.”

We want you to be happy Christians.

And the Lord bless you today for His name’s sake.

Verses 1-30

Philippians I Summary

Good-day, friends. Before we leave chapter one of Philippians, there are one or two things I want to say to you to refresh your memories.

You remember we had finished chapter one and Paul’s great testimony was to live for Christ. This is Christian experience. And to die is to be with Christ. This is the Christian hope. And as we’ve been thinking through this chapter, to me it’s been an amazing thing how this man Paul had a passion for the Son of God. Indeed, he was a specialist for Christ.

Before we leave this first chapter, I want you to mark the great place the Gospel has in the heart of this man Paul. Notice in verse 5 where he speaks,

Philippians 1:5. For your fellowship in the Gospel from the first day until now.

He had just said, “Always in every prayer of mine for you all making request with joy, be­cause of your fellowship in the Gospel, the first day until now.” Paul reveled in the fellowship of the Gospel with God’s people.

Now, in verse 7,

Philippians 1:7. Even as it is meet for me to think this of you all, because I have you in my heart; inasmuch as both in my bonds, and in the defense and confirmation of the Gospel, ye all are partakers of my grace.

Not only is there the fellowship in the Gospel, but there’s the defense and confirmation of the Gospel of which we are partakers. It’s an amazing thing, and by the way may I remind you that this word Gospel means ‘good news from God,’ that God has good news for men; and the only way we have arranged for this good news for men is through ourselves who have received the good news.

God has good news for men. Men and women are dead in trespasses and in sins. They are without light. They are far from God. They have no hope for eternity. There’s no way whereby they can be delivered from the penalty and guilt of sin. Every thing that man does is a sign of rebellion against God.

So God has some good news. What man could not do, God has done. Man can not save him­self. It is impossible for man to save himself. Only God can do that.

This is called “good news” and, my friend, it is really good news, good news to men in sin. God has made a provision to give them eternal life, to bring them into relationship with Himself, to put away their sins, and to guarantee that they will stand in His presence conformed to the image of the One who died for them, even Jesus Christ. That’s what is in Paul’s mind in the passage we have in Php 1:5, “We thank God for their fellowship in the Gospel.” In Php 1:7, “In the defense and the confir­mation of the Gospel, they were all partakers of His grace.”

And then you go on down to verse 12.

Philippians 1:12. But I would ye should understand, brethren, that the things which happened unto me have fallen out rather unto the furtherance of the Gospel.

Even my persecution, even my imprisonment has meant the furtherance of the Gospel. And as he goes on to say, “Whether they preach Christ in contention or preach Him in love, in reality, as long as Christ is preached—as long as they hear the good news from God concerning His Son,” he was content. So he talks here of the furtherance of the Gospel.

And then, you come to verses 16 and 17,

Philippians 1:16. The one preach Christ of contention, not sincerely, supposing to add affliction to my bonds:

Philippians 1:17. But the other of love, knowing that I am set for the defense of the gospel.

I am set for the defense of the good news. I’m here for one purpose that the good news con­cerning God’s love for man shall go forth. And then you go way down to verse 27,

Philippians 1:27. Only let your conversation (manner of life) be as it becometh the Gospel of Christ.

And whether I come to see you or whether I don’t, I want to know how you are getting along, that you stand fast in one spirit with one mind striving together for the faith of the Gospel. In other words, cooperate together and so live that nothing will hinder the Gospel’s going forth and that each one will walk in the light of the Gospel by faith.

So in Php 1:5 we read of fellowship in the Gospel. In Php 1:7 the defense and confirmation of the Gospel. In Php 1:12, he talks about the furtherance of the Gospel. In Php 1:17, “I am set for the de­fense of the Gospel.” And two things in Php 1:27, I’m to live as it becometh the Gospel, and I’m to strive together for the faith of the Gospel. I just suggest this to you for your thinking.

It struck me very forcibly as I read this first chapter how often the Apostle Paul brought forth this question of the Gospel. He was martyred just because of the good news from God to man. Oh, that we today might be filled with the knowledge of the Gospel of Christ so we can pass it on to some­body else. Good news from God to men.

And I’m astounded as I talk to people about the Gospel how little they know about God’s provision. How distorted an idea they have of the good news.

I had one speak to me just yesterday, and say, “Well, Mr. Mitchell, certainly if I keep the Ten Commandments, I’ll go to heaven, won’t I?”

I said, “NO. In the first place you don’t keep them, do you?”

He said, “NO.”

“Do you know of anybody who keeps them?”

He said, “No.”

Then why were the Ten Commandments given?”

The commandments were not given to save you. The Ten Commandments were not given to make you good. The Ten Commandments do not make you good. The commandments are demands— what you should be—and they give you no power to keep them. The law was given, not to save, but to reveal to us how frail, how weak, how sinful we are. Man in his condition, apart from Christ, can’t keep the commandments. Oh, the impossibility of it.

That’s why Paul here in the first chapter of Philippians talks continually about the good news, the good news. It’s not the Law. The Law is not good news. You don’t know anybody who was saved by keeping the Law. Nobody was ever saved by keeping the Law. Nobody kept the Law.

There was only One who ever could say that He was sinless, and that was Jesus Christ, God’s wonderful Son.

No, the Law reveals how bad I am. The Law reveals how weak I am, how helpless I am. And as Paul could say, “The law was our school-master to bring us unto Christ. . . . But after that faith is come (and having come to Christ), we are no longer under a school-master” (Galatians 3:24-25). You see, what I’m after here is the good news from God. And Paul is so determined, “whether it be by life or by death” as long as Christ is magnified, that the good news concerning Christ may go forth.

So he rejoiced in the fellowship of the Gospel with other saints. He was set for the defense and confirmation of the Gospel, and even his very suffering and persecution was for the furtherance of the Gospel. And, now, may you live as Christians so that your manner of life will be such as becometh the Gospel and so that ye may strive together for the faith of the Gospel and good news concerning His wonderful Son.

You know, I hate to leave this first chapter because it’s so pregnant with truth. How practi­cal. We see that the Apostle Paul had one great desire that Christ be magnified not only in him, but in every other Christian.

Why do you think God left us on earth?

Have you ever stopped to think why didn’t God take us Home the moment we were saved?

My, friend if He had done that from the beginning there wouldn’t have been any testimony to go forth. We would never have known about Christ. He leaves us down here to magnify Christ in our life and to transform us—not to live a reformed life, but a transformed life by the Spirit of God who is living in us. And then He wants us to be His witnesses, to live as the children of God in the midst of a world that’s full of the children of wrath.

And He wants us to have that passion for His Son and the prospect of standing in His presence conformed to the image of His Son. We’ll be just like Him.

I say, “What a prospect.” What a prospect! No wonder I repeat it. Paul says, “Whether I die or I live, it makes absolutely no difference to me, as long as Christ be magnified.” If I’m persecuted, if it’s for the furtherance of the Gospel, all right I’ll be persecuted. And I want you Christians to so live and so walk and so act that your very actions and your words, and your very attitude and your mo­tives, everything will be for the furtherance of the Gospel. That mankind may hear the good news from God to men.

And again may I say what I’ve so oftentimes said. You must acknowledge that if God is going to save people, He’s got a right to say what that way is. If God wants to give eternal life to people, He’s got a right to say from what ground you can receive that eternal life. If God is going to fit people for eternal glory, God has a right to say how He’s going to do it.

And all that man says, and all that man does is not going to help the situation one little bit. We must take our place as sinners needing a Saviour. And our job, for those of us who have accepted Christ, is to so walk before God as becometh the Gospel of the grace of God concerning His Son so that people will be attracted to the Saviour. This is it, my friends. This is a life of joy. This is the life of blessing. This is the life of satisfaction. It’s the life of peace. It’s the life of usefulness. It’s the only life that’s worth anything, and it carries on through into eternity.

So yield yourself to Him, our Saviour and Lord, that the Spirit of God will reveal Him to you and through you today. So that when you meet your friends and your neighbors, your very attitude to them and your very walk, your words, and your whole deportment will be as it becometh the Gospel of Christ.

Let us live as the children of One who is God so that His name and His grace will be known among men.

I repeat it again. When talking to people, which I have the opportunity of doing day after day, week after week, month after month, I’m continually amazed to find refined, educated people know­ing so little of the good news from God. In fact, most of the time, they’ve got a distorted idea as to what God has done for them. And how can they know unless we Christians tell them.

Now, you live today in fellowship with your Saviour and let Him use your tongue and your ac­tions and your life and your home and all that you are for the glorifying of Christ through you to men and women.

And the Lord bless you for His name’s sake.

Verses 3-6

Good-day friends. We again come to you for a few moments when you and I can sit down to­gether and enjoy the things of Christ. You know I’ve been thinking about this. Is it not a wonderful, marvelous thing that you and I have been purchased by the Lord Jesus Christ and can have fellowship around the throne of grace where the Spirit of God can teach us through His Word? What wonderful things God has for you and for me.

Now, we stated in our last lesson that Paul’s letter to the Philippians is a book on Christian ex­perience. The key word can be translated as “rejoice,” “joy,” and “rejoicing.” It occurs 18 times in the Epistle. As I said, I repeat it, joy is the keynote of Christian experience, even in suffering.

And then we have the first two verses where we have the salutation of the Apostle Paul.

Philippians 1:1. Paul and Timotheus, the servants of Jesus Christ, to all the saints in Christ Jesus which are at Philippi, with the bishops and deacons:

Philippians 1:2. Grace be unto you, and peace, from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ.

I’ve always remembered that Paul and Timothy were the bond-slaves of Jesus Christ. Bond-slaves. My, there are so few bond-slaves of Christ. That is the relationship between a slave and his master.

And may I again remind you of the fact that Paul could say in Romans chapter one, “Paul, a bond-servant, a bond-slave of Jesus Christ.” He wasn’t a hireling. He was a bond-slave, one who was really in love with his master. So much so that he had no time of his own. It belonged to the Lord. He had no possessions of his own. They belonged to the Lord. He had no will of his own. He belonged to the Lord.

In other words, the Lord was pre-eminent. God give us men and women these days who can really say that they are the bond-slaves of Jesus Christ. He didn’t even have a message of his own. He was God’s messenger. And he wrote to all the saints in Christ. That’s where all saints are, irre­spective of their experience, of their gifts, or even of their service. They are one in Christ.

“To the saints who are in Christ Jesus.” And remember, we’re not saints by character. We’re saints by calling. And now that we are saints, set apart for God, for that’s what it means, we are to live and we are to walk as becometh saints. And that’s what the Epistle is talking about. Christian experi­ence. And then we come to the question of thanksgiving in verses 3-8—of thanksgiving.

And the first thing we have here is the cause of Paul’s joy. Now, if you’re taking notes, you want to put down “thanksgiving, verses 3-8.” And then I want to give two or three things under this and that is “the cause for his joy,” verses 3-5. The cause for his joy. Let me read the words.

Philippians 1:3 I thank my God upon every remembrance of you,

Philippians 1:4 Always in every prayer of mine for you all making request with joy,

Philippians 1:5 For your fellowship in the Gospel from the first day until now.

Here’s the cause of his joy. First of all, their fellowship in the Gospel. You notice this. “I thank my God upon every remembrance of you, always in every prayer of mine for you all making re­quest with joy.” Request with joy. This man was a man of prayer and a man of thanksgiving, a man of rejoicing.

You know, when one reads the book of Corinthians, especially the second book, and see what Paul went through, how often he was in jail, how often he was beaten, how often he was hated and even stoned to death and shipwrecked. He went through the whole thing for Christ. Yet he could say, “I thank God for you folk with great joy.”

These dear Philippians had been born again in the midst of great suffering for Christ. And Paul had suffered for them. He had been in jail. He had seen the power of God manifested. He had seen people saved there, all kinds of people. And he rejoiced with them, even in their suffering and in his suffering.

So we read here, “always in every prayer of mine for you all making request with joy.” What for? For your fellowship in the Gospel from the first day until now. You see, their fellowship in the Gospel brought good news to sinners. It also brought good news to saints. To the sinners he had brought the message of the cross. To the saints, he brought the message of the throne. And, believe me, it was good news to the jailor who was about to commit suicide. He rejoiced over their fellowship in the Gospel, and he rejoiced because of their service for the Lord. They had a wonderful time of fel­lowship together.

And then he rejoiced because of the gifts they’d given to him. You find this in verse 7. “I have you in my heart because you’re all partakers of my grace.” And when you come to chapter 4, they were the ones who shared with him in the Gospel and had taken care of him by their gifts. This was going to abound to their account in the glory.

And then he rejoices because of the divine assurance of the purpose of God, in verse 6. The reason for his confidence:

Philippians 1:6. Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you shall perform it (or shall perfect it) until the day of Jesus Christ.

Now, I’d like to stop here for just a moment. Here’s an amazing thing. The reason for his con­fidence, “Being confident of this very thing,” the divine assurance that what God had started, He was also able to perform. You remember in 2 Timothy 1:12, Paul could say, “I know whom I have be­lieved and am persuaded that He is able to guard the deposit until that day.” And in Ecclesiastes 3:14 “I know that whatever God does, He does it forever.” Nobody can add to it. Nobody can take from it.

And in Romans 8:38 he was persuaded that nothing in life or death or any experience could separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus. Now, the reason for his confidence was the person of God and the purpose of God.

A good work had begun. And my friend, when God begins a good work in any believer’s heart, in any person’s heart, then you begin to see something of the purpose of God. In chapter 16 of Acts, we saw the power of the Gospel in transforming these dear people. Here was a successful business woman who had come into a place of real peace and rest. Here was a Roman jailor who was ready to commit sui­cide. He saw the power of God. He heard of the grace of God. I tell you this man had a real experience with God.

Even prisoners.

Allow me to refresh your memory in Acts 16:1-40. Here were Paul and Silas in jail. They were suf­fering. They had been beaten up. More than likely, salt had been poured into their wounds. Their feet were fast in the stocks. What were they doing? Singing. Praising the Lord.

My sakes! How can a man do that? Here their feet are fast in the stocks in the inner dungeon down where the slime and the snails and the filth were—a smelly, dark, dungeon. Feet in the stocks, backs bleeding, and singing in the middle of the night.

You say, “Why, man, this is supernatural.”

Of course, it is. The Christian life is supernatural. And these men were in fellowship and in re­lationship with God who was over all. So they began to sing.

What do you think they were singing? Why, of course, they were singing about the glories of Christ.

Where do you think the Philippian jailor got the words when he said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” What gave him the idea of salvation? He heard them singing in the middle of the night.

Here’s a supernatural thing. Not only that, but he saw the power of God. There was an earthquake. Every man’s band was loosed. That’s why he wanted to kill himself. And the marvelous thing was that nobody escaped. We not only saw the power of God in creation, but we see the power of God in sovereignty. And then we see the power of God in saving grace when the jailor and his household were saved. He heard the word of God. Where did he hear that? In the jail. And he was convicted that he needed salvation. And then how was he saved?

When he said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved,” Paul said, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house.”

What did he know about the Lord Jesus Christ? Well, he had heard Paul and Silas singing about the glories of Christ. Now, I’m not at all questioning the fact that possibly Paul and Silas were preaching as well as singing in the middle of the night. All the prisoners heard the Word of God and heard of the love and grace of God, our Saviour. And no wonder! The Philippian jailor must have been astounded to hear this noise in his jail and hear these men singing and preaching the Gospel. And then there was an earthquake. That would shake him up. And then, when every man’s band was loosed, he thought everybody would disappear. That meant his death by the Roman government. That’s why he wanted to commit suicide.

And Paul says, “Do thyself no harm. We’re all here.”

I say, it’s a wonderful thing to see Paul and Silas living a supernatural life in jail. We see the power of God in the earthquake. We see the power of God in His sovereignty and in that no one es­caped. Then we see the power of the Gospel in saving grace when the jailor and his whole household were saved. I tell you this is a wonderful story. No wonder Paul could say in Php 1:6, “Being confi­dent of this very thing that he which hath begun a good work in you shall perfect it until the day of Jesus Christ.”

Now mark the sixth verse Php 1:6. I want you to memorize it. “Being confident of this very thing.” Be­lieve me, my friends, the Gospel of the grace of God should give you confidence. God is not playing haphazardly with this question of salvation. God isn’t playing with souls. A man or a woman who are sinners can come and accept Jesus Christ as Saviour. God means business. And do you think God is going to save a man and then not finish the job?

What kind of a God do you think we have? Our God, when he starts a work will finish it! I repeat that verse in Ecclesiastes 3:14, “I know that whatever God does, he does it forever.” Nobody can add to it and nobody can take from it. God does it. The salvation we have starts in God, is contin­ued by God, and is going to be completed by God. When God puts His hand upon a man or a woman to save them, to bring them into relationship with Himself, to make them a member of His family, my friend, you can trust God to work out His purpose in that person.

And sometimes I wonder what kind of a God some of you Christians have. We’ve got a Saviour who is absolutely perfect and, when He died for us, He finished and completed the work of salvation. And even now, right while I’m talking to you, Jesus Christ is on the throne, representing ev­ery Christian, praying for every Christian. Praying for what? That that work which He started will be completed, so that every believer will stand in the presence of God conformed to the image of His Son.

We can truly say, “Hallelujah, what a Saviour.”

My friend, do you have Him? Believer, why don’t you revel in Him today? And read the book of Philippians through.

And the Lord bless you.

Part 2

Good-day friends. We again come to you, the object being to expound the Word of God, to feed and edify the people of God as well as to bring the Good News to men and women who need a Saviour. It’s a wonderful thing to have a Saviour who, when He starts a job, has guaranteed to finish it, isn’t it? To have a Saviour like that! Let me read again from the book of Philippians which we’re studying. The first chapter, verses three to six, I read,

Philippians 1:3 I thank My God upon every remembrance of you,

Philippians 1:4 Always in every prayer of mine for you all making request with joy, 1:5 For your fellowship in the Gospel from the first day unto now.

This filled Paul with great joy.

Philippians 1:6 Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perfect it unto the day of Jesus Christ.

Let me just stop here. We were dealing in our last lesson with this sixth verse. And we were saying that the real reason for Paul’s confidence was the person of God Himself, the divine assurance that what God had started He will complete. This is what gives Paul that certainty, that joy, that peace, that confidence, that when God starts something, He always finishes it. I want you to mark that. God never starts anything He doesn’t finish.

Here in Portland, I remember some years ago, we had passed down a certain street and a house had been started by somebody, I think possibly in the thirties, in the time of the depression. The foun­dation was there, parts of the walls were up, and it was there for many, many years. Weeds and every­thing else were around it. Somebody started a job and didn’t finish it. It wasn’t very nice to look at ei­ther. It was an eye-sore in the neighborhood. I think they pulled it down. But I remember how long that building or part of a building stood there.

God isn’t like that. When God starts a work in a man’s life, God’s going to finish it. Paul says, “Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you shall perfect it until the day of Jesus Christ.” And we said in our preceding lesson, if you read the 16th chapter of the book of Acts, where you have the history of the Philippian church, you’ll notice it was started in per­secution. There was the supernatural presence of God, and also there was great opposition from Satan and the opposition of men. The children of God suffered because of the persecution; but they had a confidence, they had a joy that was beyond the comprehension of men.

Now, let’s look at this question of Php 1:6 again.

“He which hath begun a good work in you will perform it.” Now, this word “perform” is a good word. And I’m going to take the time for this because there are three verses that I want to put together. This word “perform” is the same word “perfect.” The word is used, for example, in Romans and in Hebrews 10:14 which says this: “For by one offering he hath perfected forever those who are being sanctified, whereof the Holy Spirit also is a witness to us.” A witness of what? Of the perfection that we have in Christ.

In other words, the work of Christ at the cross guarantees the perfection of His people. Now, this is in the past. It’s in the perfect tense. He by one offering hath perfected forever those—I think the King James Version says, “those that are sanctified.” It’s in the present tense, those that are being sanctified. We are being set apart for God because the work of Christ at the cross perfected us. In oth­er words, a child of God stands in the presence of God perfect in Christ because of what He did at the cross. That’s a past work of Christ. It guarantees perfection.

Now, you go to Hebrews chapter 7, verse 25 Hebrews 7:25, where the word is again used. Allow me to quote the King James and then give you what it should say. “Wherefore he is able to save to the utter­most all those who come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for us.” Now, allow me to put it this way because the Greek word ‘tolius’ is the same word. “Wherefore he is able to save perfectly all those who come unto God by him because he ever liveth to make intercession for them.”

The present ministry of Christ at the right hand of God is as our intercessor. He guarantees the perfection of His people. So in Hebrews 10:14, the work of Christ at the cross guarantees our perfection. Hebrews 7:25, the present ministry of Christ guarantees our perfection. Now, let’s come to our verse in Philippians 1:6. “Being confident of this very thing.” What very thing? That He, that God, who hath started a work in us, who hath begun a good work in you, will perfect it. It’s the same word. “Perfect it until the day of Jesus Christ.”

In other words, the purpose of God guarantees perfection of every real believer in Christ. Now, I’ve put the three of them together. The past work of Christ at the cross guarantees our perfec­tion, in Hebrews 10:14. The present ministry of Christ in heaven guarantees the perfection of God’s people. That’s Hebrews 7:25. And the purpose of God, or if you please, the character of God, guaran­tees the perfection of God’s people in Philippians 1:6.

Allow me again to quote that verse from Ecclesiastes 3:14. “I know,” said the writer. And by the way, Ecclesiastes was the last book that Solomon wrote. He wrote the Song of Solomon when he was a young man. He wrote the book of Proverbs when he was in middle age. And he wrote the book of Ecclesiastes at the end of his ministry, with all his experience, with all that he had. He came to some conclusions and he made this statement, “I know that, whatsoever God doeth, it shall be for ever: nothing can be put to it, nor anything taken from it: and God doeth it, that men should fear be­fore him.” That men might put their trust in Him.

So I would suggest, Christian friend, that you take the time and the energy to read and then to memorize that sixth verse of Philippians 1:1-30. “Being very confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in us shall perfect it until the day of Jesus Christ.” And I’m going to repeat it. I want you never to forget it. That the past work of Christ at the cross spoken of in Hebrews 10:14 guarantees the perfection of His people. And in Hebrews 7:25 Christ’s present ministry guarantees the perfection of God’s people. In Philippians 1:6, the purpose of God and the character of God guarantee the perfection of God’s people.

And when will it be revealed? It says here “until the day of Jesus Christ.” This is to be the day of manifestation. It’s the day when our Lord is going to come for His own and we will be manifested. Colossians 3:4 says, “When Christ who is our life shall appear, then shall you also appear with him in glory.”

Paul could say in Romans 8:18, “I reckon the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glories that shall be revealed in us.” In other words, the day of manifestation is when our Lord shall come for His own. The day of Jesus Christ. We see the unchanging purpose of God, the power of God, the unbreakable promise of a never-changing God. And, at the return of Jesus Christ, this brutal Roman jailor will be revealed in all the completeness and perfection of all that he is in Christ Jesus.

This Lydia, this business woman, the first convert in Europe at Philippi, will stand before God conformed to the image of Jesus Christ; and she will be manifested as one of the children of God.

Body, soul, and spirit perfected, redeemed, eternal. And may I remind you of those amazing verses in 1 Thessalonians 5:23-24. Allow me to close today with them: “Now the God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God, your whole being, spirit, soul, body, be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Faithful is he that calleth you, who also will do it.”

Faithful is he that calleth you who also will do it. His work at the cross guarantees it, His present ministry guarantees it, and the purpose of God guarantees it. You can truly say with the songster, “Hallelu­jah, what a Saviour.”

My friend, listen. God will never be satisfied until you and I stand in His presence conformed to the image of His Son. This is the purpose of God for you and me. Is it not marvelous that the mo­ment you and I came as sinners and accepted Jesus Christ as Saviour, God started a work. And God will not be satisfied with you or me until we stand in His presence, conformed to the image of His Son.

And you know, when I think of that, I remember a word of exhortation by dear brother Bach of the Evangelical Alliance Mission. That dear saint of God is now with the Lord. I heard Him say one time to the people of God, “Dear Saints, please don’t criticize another Christian, until God gets through with him.” Well, when God gets through with us, we’re going to be just like His Son. There’ll be no room for criticism, will there?

Isn’t it wonderful to have a Saviour like this? Isn’t it wonderful to have one who guarantees your perfection? My friends, you ought to go and walk on air today and just live the day, thanking and praising God for His wonderful grace.

Verses 7-8

Good-day friends. Again we come to you, and I tell you again and I speak from the very depths of my being, my heart, that I just enjoy sitting here talking to you about the wonderful things of our Saviour and what He has accomplished for men and women.

I have the privilege of holding Bible conferences and meeting with God’s people continually. And you know my heart is really burdened that God’s people know their Bibles. It’s an amazing thing how little of the Book God’s people know. God has given to us the Spirit of God to indwell us. He’s given us a Bible to read. He’s revealed His person. He’s revealed His purpose, and yet so few people take the time to sit down with their Bibles and find out the wonderful revelation of His Son and what He has accomplished for you and for me.

And may I today at the very beginning plead with your heart to ask the Lord to put into your heart and into my heart a greater yearning for the Word of God. Oh, to be specialists for Christ in the Word of God.

Are you a Sunday School teacher? Are you a Christian worker? Are you a pastor? Are you a deacon? Whatever you may be, won’t you get into your Bibles so that God will find you usable? In­deed, I would suggest that you make yourself available to God. Offer yourself to be available to God, to be God’s channel to somebody today in the giving out of the Word of God. Teach some precious boys and girls or young people the wonderful things of Christ.

For, as we’re studying here in the book of Philippians, we’re dealing with Christian experi­ence. Philippians is not a book of doctrine. If you want doctrine, then you go to Romans and you go to Ephesians. But Philippians is a book of Christian experience. It’s a life of joy and blessing in Christ. And we want you to be filled with joy, even though you may be in suffering, even though you may be in sorrow and you’re weak and you’re frail and your condition perhaps is not very good and your cir­cumstances might be worse.

And yet, if you know the Saviour, you know something about the purpose of God and that, when God saved you, He started to do a job. God will not be satisfied until He finishes that job.

This is what we find in the Php 1:6 th verse of the first chapter of Philippians, which we were deal­ing with in our last lesson:

Philippians 1:6. Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you shall perform (perfect) it until the day of Jesus Christ.

I’m amazed, and I don’t mind repeating these things that the purpose of God for you, my friend, is that we should be just like His Son, Jesus Christ. To be conformed. If I may quote again from Romans 8:29, God has determined that we shall be “conformed to the image of His Son.” My, what a prospect! What a hope! What a hope!

You go and take a look in the looking glass. Not much to look at, is there? But, boy, when we see Him, we’re going to be just like Him. Oh, the beauty of it, the glory of it, the marvel of it, that God who starts a work guarantees to finish it. That the work of Christ on the cross guarantees it, as we had in Hebrews 10:14. The present ministry of Christ in heaven, guarantees it, as we have it in He­brews 7:25. And the purpose of God guarantees it in Philippians 1:6. Now, let’s go on from there.

In verses 7 to 8, after speaking of the unchanging purpose of an almighty God, the unbreak­able promise of a never-changing God, Paul begins to manifest something of his own heart, his yearning for these dear Philippian Christians who were born again in the midst of great persecution. Let me read Philippians 1:7-8.

Philippians 1:7. Even as it is meet for me to think this of you all, because I have you in my heart; inasmuch as both in my bonds, and in the defense and confirmation of the Gospel, ye all are partakers of my grace.

Philippians 1:8. For God is my record, how greatly I long after you all in the bowels of Jesus Christ.

My, I don’t know of any man who had such love and devotion for the people of God like this man Paul. What a heart for God! What a heart for His people! What a heart for the Gospel of Jesus Christ!

Listen to him, “I have you in my heart.” How many people do you have in your heart? Just the ones you love? Just the ones who are close to you, the ones you enjoy? How many of God’s people do you have in your heart? You know Satan is doing a job today, and I’m going to say this. Satan is do­ing a job today of dividing God’s people up. We criticize each other and we have no fellowship with certain ones unless they cross their “t’s” or dot their “i’s.”

My, this man Paul had a big enough heart for all God’s people. “I have you in my heart.” Look at Php 1: 8, “For God is my record.” God is my witness. And let me tell you, when Paul says, “God is my witness,” it is well worth noticing. When a man says, “God is my witness” or “God is my record,” he must be telling the truth. These are not just words he’s using. “God is my witness, how greatly I long after you all in the bowels, or the compassion of Jesus Christ.” I long after you all. He had a heart’s devotion not only to Christ, but to the people of Christ. To God’s people.

I ask you, my Christian friend, how many Christians do you have on your heart? How many Christians do you have on your heart? Do you know I’ve met Christians who have a great burden for lost men and women. They pray for lost men and women, soul-winning. And I’m not opposed to that, by any means. God forbid.

But how many are burdened for God’s people in their frailty, in the failures? How many are burdened for God’s people that they might grow in the grace of God, burdened that God’s people might be built up in the faith, burdened that God’s people might be delivered from the world with all its subtleties?

In this day of compromise when men are afraid to stand for the truth of God, we quibble along. We talk about having a dialogue with the world, a common ground whereby the world and the believers can dialogue. Listen friends, Paul could say, “God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me and I unto the world” (Galatians 6:14).

There’s no common meeting ground. The world is under judgment and the world needs a Saviour, and our job is to bring the world the Gospel of God’s beloved Son. Of course, we should help people. Of course, we should take care of those who are in need and do all we can to relieve the sufferings of people. When it comes to the world, its system, its system that is opposed to God, my friend, there should be no place for it in the believer’s heart except to win it to Christ. That’s our job. The world can’t be transformed, but individuals can. And God must do it. You can’t do it. God must do it. And you’ve got the message that does it, that will transform sinners into saints, wolves into sheep, children of wrath into children of God.

Paul is burdened here in the Epistle because of these dear Christians who are in trouble in suffering for the Gospel’s sake. He says, “I want you to know and God is my witness that I love you all. I greatly long after you all in the compassion of Christ. Oh, how I long to be with you. How I long to bring some word of encouragement, of edification to you.”

Then he goes on in verse 7:

Philippians 1:7. Inasmuch as both in my bonds, and in the defense and confirmation of the Gospel, ye all are partakers of my grace.

Now, Paul brings them into this. Why is he in bonds? Why is he in jail? Why is he a prison­er? Because of his defense and his confirmation of the Gospel. And because of the grace of God, he and these dear ones down in Philippi have been knitted together in the grace of God. They’re partak­ers of the grace of God. And “God is my record.”

What I’m trying to get to you is to look at this man Paul and the great heart he had for God’s people. One of the greatest needs today among Christians is this very thing, the compassion for each other. If you see a child of God failing God, don’t criticize him. Don’t judge him. Don’t club him ei­ther. What he needs is not a club. What he needs is some love, some understanding. You see, most of us want the other Christian to live the way we think he should live. And that gets us into trouble, makes us judges, makes us critics; and the result is instead of helping the other believer, we knock him further down.

Oh, may I plead with you who are Christians, and I’m taking the time to do this, because ev­erywhere I see the tremendous need for understanding and compassion and love among God’s people. How many Christians do you have on your heart? When you see children of God in your church, in your assembly and they’re failing God, I’m not holding a brief for their failure, don’t misunderstand me; but sometimes I think some of these Christians are just needing a lot of love. They need a lot of understanding.

You see, the danger is that you and I, from where we look at it, sit in judgment because we think they’re the ones who shouldn’t do those things. Did you ever put yourself in their position, into their circumstances, into their background and try to meet the problem from where they sit, not from where you sit? You know what the psalmist said (137:1)? “I sat down where they sat and I wept with them.” Why don’t you go down and sit where they sit? And instead of manifesting a critical attitude, why don’t you love them? Why don’t you take them upon your heart? Take them before God in prayer. Love them, manifest grace, manifest compassion, the very compassion of Christ.

Oh, I just plead with you Christians today on this. What the world needs to see is a revelation of the love of God in His people. It’s a tragedy when a Christian runs off to the world and criticizes other Christians before the world. This is a tragedy. You protect them from the world. You meet with them if you can, or at least pray for them. May God put them upon your heart.

And Paul says, “God is my witness how greatly I long after you in the compassion of Christ.” May God grant to you and to me to so walk before God that something of the love and the compas­sion and tenderness of the Saviour will be evident in us.

I need it.

You need it.

Let us get our hearts and minds occupied with Christ today.

And may we be available to God to be found as channels, to be usable by God in the lives of other people.

And the Lord richly, wonderfully bless you today.

And don’t forget to read the book of Philippians.

And the Lord bless you for His name’s sake.

Verses 9-11

Good-day, friends. As I have been reading the book of Philippians, I’m again thrilled with the possibility of every believer’s living to the praise and the glory of God’s grace. I’m astounded, when I think of the purpose of God in His people, that “He who hath begun a good work in us will perfect it until the day of Jesus Christ.” And during this time, the Lord is perfecting us for the work started when we were saved.

You remember in 2 Corinthians 3:18, “We all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are being changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.” This is what I mean when I say that the work which God started when we were saved continues to move day by day, hour by hour. The Spirit of God is perfecting that which God wants to do in us and for us so that, when you and I stand in the presence of God, we will be conformed to the image of His Son.

As 1 John 3:2 says, “When we see him, we shall be like him. We shall see him as he is.” And when Paul was filled with this great purpose of God, we see the great yearning of his heart for God’s people. We see his great yearning that the Gospel of God’s grace be made known to others.

Now, reading from verses 9-11, we have Paul’s prayer for them. And I’d like to read those verses, Philippians chapter 1, reading from verses 9 through 11:

Philippians 1:9 And this I pray, that your love may abound yet more and more in knowledge and in all judgment;

Philippians 1:10 That ye may approve things that are excellent; that ye may be sincere and without offence till the day of Christ;

Philippians 1:11 Being filled with the fruits of righteousness, which are by Jesus Christ, unto the glory and praise of God.

Now, here is one of Paul’s prayers. And by the way, I would suggest to those of you who love the study of the scriptures that you examine Paul’s prayers and how he prayed. It would be a good lesson for us on how to pray. For example, in Ephesians chapter 1, you remember, he prayed for knowledge that we might know certain things. When you come to chapter 3 of Ephesians, we have his prayer for power and for fellowship. When we come to Colossians in the first chapter, you have his prayer to know God’s will. And when we come to this prayer here in Philippians 1:9-11 , it’s a prayer for discernment. And, my, how we need that.

There are so many things going around today, so many teachings and doctrines of men. No wonder people write and say, “We’re all confused. We don’t know what to believe.” It would be well for us to pray this prayer of Paul’s that we might be able to discern the things that differ.

Young people, raised in our local churches often are taught only so much of the scriptures. They go off to college and the first thing you know, they become shaken in their thinking. Some of them lose their faith; and some come back, absolutely confused, not knowing what to believe. Some Christians go to church after church and the more they go around, the more confused they get, I’m sorry to say. So Paul makes a tremendous prayer here. Listen again to what he says in verse 9:

Philippians 1:9 And this I pray, that your love may abound yet more and more in knowledge and in all judgment (discernment).

In all judgment, in all discernment. You know we’re living in a day when there is so much compromise. We get used to it and say, “Well, we must manifest love.”

Listen, my friend, love never compromises the truth. Jesus Christ was the personification of love. He was the truth. But He never compromised. He didn’t compromise with the Sadducees, who were the liberals of the day. He didn’t compromise with the Pharisees who were the legalists of the day. He didn’t compromise with the Herodians who were the politicians of the day. He never compro­mised. And yet, He’s the personification of love.

Love never compromises the truth. We are to contend for the faith and to contend for the faith in love. That’s found in the book of Jude, dealing with false teachers. And we certainly have to contend for the faith in the light of false teachers. As God’s people, we ought to live and experience and manifest love, but with knowledge and with discernment.

I think we ought to pray for a love that is able to discern. How far can I go in love and not compromise? You take in 1 Corinthians chapter 13 that amazing passage. “Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels and have not love, I’m nothing else but a tin can. Though I give my body to be burned and give all my goods to feed the poor, though I prophesy, all these things and have not love, I am nothing,” (1 Corinthians 13:1-3). But Paul here is praying that we might have love with knowledge, with discernment. It is not a question of peace at any price.

In other words, the more you love Him, the more you love His Word, the more knowledge you’ll have of the purpose and will of God, and the more you will be able to discern.

Do you remember 1 Thessalonians 5:21, where we are to prove all things and “hold fast that which is good.” How can I prove all things if I don’t know my Bible? I confess again to you, my friend, I’m appalled at times of the ignorance of God’s people on what God has already re­vealed to us in the scriptures. The trouble is this: We want experiences, but we’re not willing to take the time to be diligent, to get into our Bibles and know what God has already revealed.

I have met people who say they have this vision and that vision and the other vision. My friend, you can talk all you want to about your vision. That doesn’t appeal to me one little bit, unless it’s according to the Word of God. God has given to us a complete revelation in the scriptures. And if I really want to know the will of God and the purpose of God and be able to discern that which is right and that which is wrong, then I’ve got to know the scriptures.

And Paul here is praying that our love may abound, yet more and more in knowledge and in all discernment. And I tell you if ever we needed discernment, it’s today. And how we need to have the Word of God filling our minds. And I declare to you, if you claim to love the Saviour, you will love His Word. If I love His Word, I’m going to read it. I’m going to study it. I’m going to find out what God has to say.

As Paul says, “He that is spiritual compareth spiritual things with spiritual” (1 Corinthians 2:13). And as Peter says, “Scripture is of no private interpretation” (2 Peter 1:20). That is, you must compare scripture with scripture. And, when we compare scripture with scripture, we get an idea at least of the purpose and will of God, not only for the church and for the world, but for you and for me individually. Paul prays here in Php 1:9 that your love may abound yet more and more in knowledge and in all judgment.

Then the second part of his prayer, his second request is “that you may approve things that are excellent.” Or if I might change the wording “to be able to discern, to prove the things that differ.” And again I say, how can you prove it, unless you get into the Word of God? You may approve the things that are excellent or you may approve the things that differ. He’s really coming into the ques­tion again of discernment, to discern things, to know that which is right and that which is wrong.

Then the second part of his prayer, his second request is “that you may approve things that are excellent.” Or if I might change the wording “to be able to discern, to prove the things that differ.” And again I say, how can you prove it, unless you get into the Word of God? You may approve the things that are excellent or you may approve the things that differ. He’s really coming into the ques­tion again of discernment, to discern things, to know that which is right and that which is wrong.

You say, “Well, Mr. Mitchell, what shall I do? Do you mean I must read all these books on the different cults and doctrines?”

No! You’ve got to know your Bible. Get to know your Bible.

I had a friend one time who worked for the government in the Federal Reserve Bank in Ohio. And when I met him he had in one pocket a dollar bill, a five dollar bill, a ten dollar bill, and a twenty dollar bill. He had half-dollars and quarters in his pockets. His fingers were always on the job, either figuring and feeling these coins or he was examining bills, five, ten, twenty dollar bills and so on. He was always examining bills.

And I said, Why do you do that?”

He said, “The more proficient I am in my sight and in my feeling of the coins and of the bills, the quicker I am able to find that which is spurious.”

One of his jobs was to do this in a bank. He could look at bills and tell you whether they were spurious by feeling them, just by feeling them and by looking at them. He didn’t have to know all about every spurious coin or every spurious bill. All he had to know was what a real bill was like and what a real coin was like. So that the moment he picked up something that was spurious, he immedi­ately knew it wasn’t right. It was counterfeit.

I’m not asking you to read all the books and pamphlets on the different doctrines of men. It’s fine if you have the time; but please, how are you going to prove them wrong? How are you going to prove if they are right or wrong unless you know the truth. This is what Paul is praying for—that our love may abound yet more and more in knowledge and in all discernment, and that we may prove that which is different, being able to discern that which is different. That’s why in 1 Thessalonians chapter 5:21, Paul says, “Prove all things; hold fast to that which is good.”

Then in Philippians 1:10, our love is to be an active love. I’m going to stop here and leave that until our next lesson.

But the thing I’m after is, how am I going to know and discern that which is right and that which is not true?

There’s only one thing to do. Get into your Bibles. I plead with you. If you are Christians, get into your Bibles. Read and reread and reread and it’s going to be a chore. You’re going to have oppo­sition. Your flesh will rebel against it possibly. Or somebody will scorn you for reading the Bible. Never mind. You get to know your Bible and be able to discern and to prove all things, holding fast to that which is good.

Get to know the purpose of God, the mind of God. And the only place you’ll find it is in the Word of God. This is where He gives it to us. Hence, there have been men and women of the Book. My prayer is that you will be a boy or man or girl or woman of the Book.

May your love abound yet more and more in knowledge and in all judgment, in all discern­ment that you might be able to prove the things that are different.

And the Lord bless you today for His name’s sake.

Good-day, friends. We’re studying these days in the book of Philippians, the book of joy, the book of Christian experience, the Epistle that tells us what real life is.

We were dealing with the prayer of Paul in chapter one, Php 1:9-11, this amazing prayer of Paul’s for these Philippian Christians and, may I add, for you and for me. And again may I repeat that the Apostle Paul gives to us in his various Epistles the desire of his heart and the prayer for God’s people. In Ephesians chapter 1 and chapter 3 you have two prayers of Paul, a prayer for knowledge and a prayer for strength and for fellowship. In the book of Colossians you’ve got another one in chapter one, and that is the prayer for the will of God to be known. Then, we have here in Philippians a prayer for discernment that your love may abound yet more and more in knowledge and in all dis­cernment, and that ye may be able to prove the things that are different. So may I again read these verses, please, in Philippians chapter one, verses 9-11. Just these three verses.

Philippians 1:9. And this I pray, that your love may abound yet more and more in knowledge and in all judgment (in all discernment);

Philippians 1:10. That ye may approve (or prove) things that are excellent (different); that ye may be sincere and without offence till the day of Christ;

Philippians 1:11. Being filled with the fruits of righteousness, which are by Jesus Christ, unto the glory and praise of God.

My, how this man is in love with his Saviour! I can’t help but marvel when I see how he yearned over God’s people, and how ambitious he was not only to walk in the will of God, but ambi­tious that God’s people know the will of God, even to discern the will of God and be in it.

Now, we had in our last lesson, first the request that their love may abound in knowledge and in discernment. And the second request was that they might be able to prove the things that are differ­ent. And, now, the third request is in verse 10.

Philippians 1:10. That ye may be sincere and without offense till the day of Christ.

That ye might be sincere in character, without offense in conduct, until the Lord shall come. This is what he’s talking about. If I were to follow this teaching through, I would point you back to Romans chapter 13 where you’ve got the relationship between Christians about helping a weaker be­liever. I’m not going to take that up, for I’ve mentioned it before over this broadcast. But he asks here for an act of love, that their love may be sincere and without offense.

I made a moment ago the statement to be sincere in character. Sincerity should always char­acterize the man or the woman in Christ. There’s no excuse for insincerity. You know, I’ll go a long way with people who are sincere. I may not agree with them. They may be failing God. But, if they’re sincere, they’ll want to do the right thing. They’ll want to walk with God. They’ll want to know the things of God. I’ll go a long way with them. Let us be this way, sincere in character. Nothing can take the place of sincerity. Insincerity is a bad thing. May God grant that you and I will be always sincere in our character.

And then we are to be without offense in our conduct. Without offense in our conduct, neither giving nor taking offense. How long? Until the day of Jesus Christ. Until the Lord Jesus comes for us. Let us then be sincere in character and without offense in our conduct.

You notice in verse 6 Philippians 1:6 He’s going to perfect us till the day of Christ. In verse 10, we are to be sincere in character and without offense till the day of Christ. That is, until the coming of the Lord Je­sus Christ. In one you have the purpose of God being completed till the day of Christ. In the other, you have our actions, our experience, our responsibility as Christians to live till the day of Christ. And you know, that may be today. That’s what we’re waiting for. We’re like the Thessalonian church in chapter 1, verse 10. They waited for his Son from heaven. That’s the day of Christ when you and I shall be gathered together unto Him. It’s a wonderful thing to look forward to that fact, that you and I are going to stand in the presence of God looking just like Christ. That’s verse 6. In the meantime, we are to be sincere in character; we are to be without offense in our conduct.

And then, in verse 11, such a life and such a hope is to the glory of God. May I read,

Philippians 1:11. Being filled with the fruits of righteousness, which are by Jesus Christ, unto the glory and praise of God.

Such a life is to the glory of God. Being filled with the fruits of righteousness.

I’m reminded of that little passage in Galatians 4:22-23 where the writer says, “The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance (self-control): against such there is no law.” This is the fruit of the Spirit. Or if I might say this, it is the fruit of righteousness. You and I have been joined to a righteous Saviour. We belong to Him. You’ve got a new life in Christ, a new relationship. What He wants of us is to walk before Him, being filled with the fruits of righteousness.

You know, this is the thing, if you pull it all together, if you take this prayer of Paul. Our love should abound in knowledge and discernment. Here is the mental thing, being able to prove the things that differ. This is where your minds are to be occupied with God.

And then our love is to be an act of love. We are to be sincere in character, and we are to be without offense in conduct until the coming of the Lord. And such a life is to the glory of God. Why? Because such a life will be filled with the fruits of righteousness through Christ Jesus. This is what Paul means, I think, in a way in Galatians 2:20 when he said, “I am crucified with Christ: (I no longer live) ...but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”

Or take Philippians 4:13, “I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.” Or you take later in chapter one, Php 1:20-21, “that Christ shall be glorified in my body whether it be by life or by death. For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain (to be with Christ).” So it makes no differ­ence whether I live or die, as long as Christ is magnified. This is the passion of this man Paul. This is what he wants of you and me. Sincerity of character, always to be sincere in the thing we do. Not to be two-faced, but sincere.

And then without offense. Not to lord it over your brother. Not to sit in judgment on your brother. But to be without offense either to give offense or to receive offense. Some people don’t give offense, but they’re very touchy. They’ve got a chip on their shoulder. In fact, I think sometimes they’ve got a plank on their shoulder. Taking offense is so easy.

You say, “Well, I’m so sensitive.”

I know, we’re all sensitive. It depends upon who’s talking to us. But it’s so easy to give of­fense; and it’s so easy, in fact, I think it is easier to take offense at what people say. Oh, to have a love for Christ that overmasters us, that consumes us, which will be evident by our love for each other. And when we have love for each other and we’re abounding in love one to the other and have knowledge and discernment, the result is going to be that our lives will be sincere in character and will be without offense in walk.

And the fruit of righteousness will be manifested by Jesus Christ, even until the day of Christ, that we might be unto the glory and praise of God.

What is it all for? For the glory of God!

Are you living for that?

Do you remember in Ephesians chapter one where we had, if I may refresh your memory, the work of the Father in our redemption. What for? That we might be to the praise of His glory (Php 1:6). The work of the Son in our redemption. Why? That we might be to the praise of His glory (Php 1:12). To be sealed by the Spirit of God. Why? That we might be to the praise of His glory (verse 14). The ultimate purpose of all redemption, of all Christian living, of all testimony is that God may be glori­fied in all things. This is the ultimate of our salvation.

Why do you think He saved you? To get you to heaven? Yes, but that’s only a part of it. To forgive you your sins? Yes. To give you life eternal? Yes. To make you a child of God? Yes. To pro­nounce you righteous? Yes. But my friend, why did He do it? That we might be to the praise of His glory. Oh, my friends, let this be the concern and desire of our hearts that what we say, what we do, what we think, what we purpose, what we plan, our whole life, will be geared to the glory of God.

Do you remember Jesus said in John 17:1-26, “Father, I have glorified thee on the earth.” If you start in at chapters 11 of John through 17, how over and over again, Jesus said, “Now is the Son of Man glorified.” And if the Son of Man be glorified, the Father will be glorified in Him.

In John 17:4, He prayed, “I have glorified Thee on the earth.” In John 17:5, “Glorify me with the glory which I had with Thee before the world was.” John 17:22, “The glory which you have given me, I have given them.” John 17:24, “And Father, I will that they may behold my glory.”

You see, the ultimate purpose of all of God’s program for man, the redemption of the race, the building of a church, is that God may be glorified through the countless ages of eternity; and the mar­velous thing is, you and I are going to share in that glory. “For the glory which thou hast given me, I have given them.” (John 17:22). “When Christ who is our life shall appear, then shall we also appear with Him in glory” (Colossians 3:4). “I reckon the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us,” said the Apostle Paul (Romans 8:18).

You see, friends, the ultimate is the glory of God. Are you living for that? Or do you want your own way? Do you want your own will? Here I’m living in a generation that’s affected by a mate­rialistic philosophy, by a humanistic philosophy; and man is becoming defiled and corrupt.

How shall I live in the midst of this? I’m to live for the glory of God, for my love for each other and for Him to abound in knowledge and in all discernment in me that I might be able to discern the things that are different. I should have an active love that will be sincere in character, without of­fense in life and be filled with the fruits of righteousness for His glory. And I’m to do this so until the day of Christ, when He shall come for us.

Read this book of Philippians, will you? And you be a blessing today to somebody. Be a bless­ing to others today.

And the Lord richly bless you for His name’s sake.

Verses 12-19

Good-day, friends. We again come to you and we rejoice in the privilege and, shall I say, the honor of sitting down and talking with you about the things of Christ and the possibility that men and women in this generation can so live for God that He would be glorified in all that we are and all that we do.

Remember that the book of Philippians is a book of Christian experience. I would like to give you one verse for each chapter which gives you the key to this book. In chapter one, Php 1:20-21, what is Christian experience? That Christ be magnified in my body whether it be by life or by death, for to me to live is Christ, and to die (or to be with Christ) is gain. So whether I live or whether I die, just so long as Christ is magnified in my body.

In chapter two verse Philippians 2:5, what is Christian experience? “Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus.” The mind of Christ Jesus operating in a believer’s life is Christian experience. And he gives us a three-fold illustration of that in the chapter with Paul, Timothy and Epaphroditus.

In chapter 3 verse 10, Philippians 3:10 what is Christian experience? “I count everything but loss, that I might know Him.” This is to know Him experimentally, the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His suffering.

In chapter 4 what is Christian experience? “I can do all things through Christ which strength­eneth me.” Take all four chapters, Christ is the center. Of course, it has to be Christ as the center of our lives if we are to have a real Christian experience.

Now, we’re in chapter one. We’ve just finished studying the prayer of Paul in Php 1:9-11. And now we come to the next thought in the passage, Paul’s rejoicing in his bonds. I can’t help but think of this when I think of Paul. He was rejoicing in these dear saints in dealing with the unchanging purpose of God in His people, the unbreakable promise of God to His people, and of how he had suffered for the Gospel. He rejoiced that these people were the fruit of the Gospel.

And now he rejoices when he’s in jail because people are hearing the Gospel. For, you re­member, when Paul wrote his book of Philippians he was in prison. And a man called Nero was on the throne. He was a terrible character. And yet, though Nero is running the thing and Paul is in jail because he loved the Saviour, yet he takes the time out to rejoice because Christ is preached.

Will you notice verses 12 and 13. Here’s a man who was bodied-down, but spirit-free. Can I repeat that? Paul is in chains. He’s bodied-down. But his spirit is free. And he writes.

Philippians 1:12 But I would ye should understand, brethren, that the things which happened unto me have fallen out rather unto the furtherance of the Gospel;

Philippians 1:13 So that my bonds in Christ are manifest in all the palace, and in all other places.

Let me just take these two verses. Here’s the reason for his joy. Here’s a man, I say, in chains. And the reason for his joy is that many have heard of Christ who otherwise would not have heard. When you come to chapter four, verse 22, you find that there were some in Caesar’s household who heard the word of God; “All the saints salute you, chiefly they that are of Caesar’s household.” What if Paul had not been in jail? How would the household of Nero have ever heard of the Gospel? Isn’t that a marvelous thing?

Do you take your circumstances, my friend, which are very, very difficult, and use them to bring the Gospel to somebody else? I’ve oftentimes tried to visualize this. Here Paul is chained to guards. Each day possibly the guard is changed. And possibly, some of these guards were the noted Praetorian guards. And here he is chained to men. And his very bonds led to a wider proclamation of the Gospel. Even if he is going to be in prison, he’s going to use that for the furtherance of the Gospel. And because of that, he would rejoice.

So, my friend, wherever you go, wherever you are, Christ should be preached. That’s why you are where you are. But God wants you to be faithful in your ministry. I’m sure there must have been a real joy in Paul’s heart where one day, some new guards came on. He’d never met them before. And he was chained to them. Now, they can’t get away from Paul, and Paul can’t get away from them. My, what an opportunity to give them the Gospel. He’s chained to them, and he can’t get away.

You know in my early ministry, I used to drive a little Ford car, a little roadster up in the prairies of Canada. Sometimes I would follow a prairie trail. And once in a while when I’d be leaving the town where I was staying, some of the farmers would come up alongside and say, “You going out to a certain place to hold a meeting tonight?”

I’d say, “Yes.”

“Do you mind if I ride out home with you? Maybe ten, fifteen miles out to there?” “Sure, jump in.”

There was only room for two of us in this little roadster. And as I say there were no trails, and in those days we had no foot accelerator. We just had the hand gasoline to feed your car. And when we’d get on the road, I’d open the throttle full wide and away we’d go. They’d hang on for dear life, and I’d preach the Gospel to them. They couldn’t get out of the car. By the way, they didn’t ask for a second ride. But at least they came the once.

So, it is here with Paul, chained. Did you ever chain yourself to anybody and in love and in grace minister to them the things of Christ?

I’ve often times thought of John Bunyan. You take some of the great works of John Bunyan. He’s a man who was in jail because he preached the Gospel of the grace of God. While he was in jail, he wrote “Pilgrim’s Progress” and “Grace Abounding to the Chief of Sinners” and other works.

John Bunyan was in Bedford jail. He couldn’t get out and couldn’t preach, so he got down and wrote these wonderful, wonderful things to the people of God wherever they were. I tell you, my friend, God arranges the circumstances. He’s over all circumstance. He permits certain circumstances for His own glory and for your good and my good. The trouble is we don’t rejoice in our circum­stances.

And here in this case, Paul is so happy. My, what an opportunity to preach Christ, even in the palace. As I said a moment ago, his very bonds led to a wider proclamation of the Gospel. And as I say, if being in prison leads to the furtherance of the Gospel, says Paul, that’s where I’ll be—in prison. I’ll rejoice, so long as people hear the Gospel. “I would that ye should understand, brethren that the things which happened unto me have fallen out rather unto the furtherance of the Gospel; so that my bonds in Christ are manifest in all the palace, and in all other places (5:12-13). You see, I re­peat it, he rejoiced because he had the opportunity of being bound for Christ, that he might proclaim Christ. I’d suggest that we must be faithful in our witnessing.

Do you remember in Luke 24:1-53 Jesus said, “You are witnesses of these things.” In Acts 1:8, “The Spirit of God is going to come upon you and you’ll be my witnesses.” Witnesses of Him in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and the uttermost parts of the earth. And 2 Corinthians 5:20 says, “We are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ’s stead, be ye reconciled to God.”

Listen, friend, God has put you where you are that you might be a witness for Him. I know the job might not be very good, and circumstances are certainly far from being very heavenly. You may be frail in body, you don’t feel so well, and the children cause you to have headaches, and I don’t know what the score may be. But wherever you are, whoever you are, if you really love the Saviour, use your circumstances as an opportunity of bearing testimony for Him.

There are so many false witnesses, so many doctrines around today. How we need those of us who love the Saviour—how we need to preach Christ.

Now, in Php 1:14-19, he goes on to say, he rejoiced because Christ was preached, irrespec­tive of circumstances. Not only do I have the opportunity of witnessing in the palace, but “many of my brethren waxed confident by my bonds and are much more bold to speak the word without fear,” (Php 1:14) The very fact that I was witnessing in the prison to the household of Caesar gave them courage to go on out and preach the Gospel wherever they were without fear. And he goes on to say,

Philippians 1:15 Some indeed preach Christ even of envy and strife; and some also of good will:

Philippians 1:16 The one preach Christ of contention, not sincerely, supposing to add affliction to my bonds: (Hoping I will suffer more for it)

Philippians 1:17 But the other of love, knowing that I am set for the defense of the Gospel.

Philippians 1:18 What then? Notwithstanding, every way, whether in pretense, or in truth, Christ is preached; and I therein do rejoice, yea, and will rejoice.

Philippians 1:19 For I know that this shall turn to my salvation (that is, my deliverance from prison) through your prayer, and the supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ.

Will you notice please here, he rejoiced as long as Christ is preached. He praised God as long as people were hearing about his Saviour. It’s not so much the result that counts, but what is pleasing to God. And God is pleased when His people talk about His Son.

Do you want to praise the Lord?

Paul says, “My message was a savor of life unto life or of death unto death, a sweet savor of Christ in them that believe, of judgment to those who did not believe.” (2 Corinthians 2:16). Whether you see people saved or not, we should witness and leave the results with God. But He wants us to witness. Whatever the circumstances, whatever the afflictions, whatever the sorrow, whatever the storm may be, God wants you to bear testimony for His Son. He’s not going to send angels to do it. He sends you and me. And this man Paul, even though some hated him and thought to try and add to his bonds, to his suffering, he rejoiced that Christ was being preached. People heard about his Saviour.

Oh, that we might be so filled with the desire that people might hear about our Saviour and thus come to know Him and be saved. Maybe today, God will give you the opportunity of bearing tes­timony for Him in some way, just a kind word or a kind deed, and in some way bring to them the wonderful love of Christ.

And the Lord richly bless you today for His name’s sake.

Verses 14-21

Good-day, friends. We’re in a study of the book of Philippians, the book of Christian experi­ence. And we’re in chapter one and I’ve been reading with respect to the Apostle Paul’s rejoicing in his bonds because Christ is preached, verses 14 to 19. And if I might again repeat one or two things here in verse 14,

Philippians 1:14 Many of the brethren in the Lord, waxing confident by my bonds, are much more bold to speak the word without fear.

Remember Paul is in prison. Nero, that wicked emperor is on the throne. And Paul has suf­fered a great deal for the Gospel’s sake. He is chained to Roman soldiers, and he’s had the opportunity of witnessing to them concerning the Saviour. In fact, if he had not been in bonds in the prison or in the palace, he wouldn’t have had the opportunity of witnessing to those in Caesar’s court, Caesar’s palace. Because when you come to the end of the book, he thanks God for these of Caesar’s house­hold. It may be some of the Praetorian guard who were chained to him day after day. But whatever the thing was, whatever the score was, the Apostle Paul took the opportunity even in jail, being chained, to bear testimony of his wonderful Saviour.

You couldn’t be in Paul’s presence very long before he would talk to you about his Saviour. Would indeed that we had more today who were filled with the same passion, the same love for the Saviour, and the same yearning that somebody else might know of the wonders of His love, His ten­derness, His compassion, and His grace. And now, Paul writes and says,

Philippians 1:14. And many of the brethren in the Lord, waxing confident by my bonds, are much more bold to speak the word without fear.

Philippians 1:15. Some indeed preach Christ even of envy and strife; and some also of good will:

Philippians 1:16. The one preach Christ of contention, not sincerely, supposing to add affliction to my bonds:

Philippians 1:17. But the other of love, knowing that I am set for the defense of the Gospel.

Philippians 1:18. What then? Notwithstanding, (it makes no difference to me), every way, whether in pretense, or in truth, Christ is preached; And I therein do rejoice, yea, and will re­joice.

Philippians 1:19. For I know that this shall turn to my salvation (deliverance) through your prayer, and the supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ.

He praised God because people were hearing about his Saviour. And I wish that I could in some way put into your heart, Christian friend, and in my heart, for I need it too, this great burning passion that in some way people might know about our Saviour. What a wonderful Saviour He is. He not only saves us from sin and fits us for the presence of God, but He brings us into a personal rela­tionship with Himself so that His life becomes our life and so that one of these days we shall stand in His presence just like Him.

No wonder Paul preached. No wonder Paul rejoiced that men were hearing about his Saviour.

And then in verse 19 you have his perfect assurance of deliverance from prison. As far as we know, the Apostle Paul was delivered from prison and went out again, preaching the unsearchable riches of Christ. But mark his confidence. “I know that this shall turn to my salvation.”

What? What is happening in the palace? It means that God has used those of Caesar’s house­hold who heard the word of God and took Christ as Saviour together with the prayers of God’s people and the supply of the Spirit of Christ to bring deliverance to Paul.

It’s a wonderful thing. God always works at both ends. Did you know that?

Do you remember in chapter 10 of the book of Acts, where Peter is down at Joppa. And here is Cornelius a Roman centurion up at Caesarea. Now, God wants Cornelius the Roman centurion to hear about His Son. How’s He going to do it? There’s nobody in Caesarea that we know of who knew the Saviour. And Peter, the great apostle of Christ, is down there at Joppa. So, the Lord just works at both ends. He worked on Peter’s heart at Joppa. And he worked on the house of Cornelius, on Cor­nelius’s heart. And Cornelius one day had a vision from God that he should send men to Joppa and call for one, Simon Peter, and “he’ll come and tell you words whereby you and your household shall be saved.”

In the meantime, the Spirit of God deals with Peter. He says, “Peter, I want you to go down, there are some fellows that are waiting for you. And you go with them, nothing doubting.”

And he went with these men to Caesarea and met with Cornelius. Cornelius told him what he wanted. And God got them both together. God always works at both ends.

The Lord doesn’t work haphazardly as you and I do. God knows what He is doing. Every de­tail is known to Him. In fact, if we read in the scriptures, He numbers our steps (Job 14:16). He bot­tles our tears (Psalms 56:8). He counts the hairs of our head (Matthew 10:30). Our times are in his hands (Psalms 31:15). The very littlest, smallest detail of your life is under his gaze. He knows.

And Paul could say with assurance, “I know that because of your prayers, and the Spirit of Christ, I’m going to be delivered.” What a wonderful cooperation, by the way, between God and His Son and His people—Paul in prison, the people of God praying, and the Spirit of Christ working. And Paul is sure with such a combination that he’s going to be set free. And he was! This always amazes me the way God works. He always does the right thing. He’s always on time.

My friend, listen. The marvelous thing is that God wants you and me to co-operate with Him.

As James said in Acts 15:1-41, “It seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us” (Acts 15:28). Cooperation.

Again, I repeat what I’ve been saying. Why don’t we Christians make ourselves available to God so that He through the Spirit of God can work in us and through us to His own praise and His own glory. So thus far in the chapter, in the first chapter, we’ve had Paul’s thanksgiving. We’ve had Paul’s prayer, Paul’s confidence. We’ve had Paul’s longing after them, and his prayer that their love may abound, that they may be able to discern the things that are different, that they might be sincere in character, without offense in walk till the coming of the Lord, that they might live to the praise of His glory.

And then he rejoiced that everything that had come into his life was for the furtherance of the Gospel. And even those who were opposed to him, though they talked about the Saviour in pretense, not in sincerity, nevertheless, people were hearing about His Son, God’s Son. This gave Paul great re­joicing and his certainty that he’d be delivered from prison.

Now, we come on in the chapter to his purpose in life. His purpose in life is rejoicing because, although he’s in his bonds, people have heard of the Saviour, that Christ was preached. We have his assurance of deliverance and now his purpose in life, verses 20-21. Here is an amazing passage of scripture.

Philippians 1:20. According to my earnest expectation and my hope, that in nothing I shall be ashamed, but that with all boldness, as always, so now also Christ shall be magni­fied in my body, whether it be by life, or by death.

Philippians 1:21. For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.

Or to die is to be with Christ.

Now, here is the purpose of Paul in his life. One is reminded of the verse again in Galatians 2:20, “I no longer live, but Christ liveth in me.” In 2 Corinthians 5:9, “Being ambitious to be found pleasing to Him.” And what is his purpose? That “whether by life or whether by death, Christ may be magnified in my body.” That’s why he in Philippians 3:10 could say, “I count everything but loss, just to know Christ, just to be found in Him.” And Colossians 3:1-25, “If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God. When Christ, who is our life, shall appear,” and so on (Colossians 3:1; Colossians 3:3-4 a).

You see this man Paul recognized only one life and that was Christ. You remember in John 1:4 it says, “In him was life.” Jesus said, “I have the water of life.” I’ll give you eternal life. I’ll give you satisfying life. I’ll give you resurrection life. I’ll give you an abundant life. I’ll give you every­thing you need with respect to life; and because I live, you shall live also.

This is an astounding thing! It’s an amazing thing. Here is a man or a woman, bound by sin, shackled by sin, and somebody comes along and tells them about a Saviour who can deliver them from sin and in a moment their lives are transformed. They’ve got a new life with new hope and new aspirations. This is why some people don’t understand young Christians. You see they’ve known them as those who drank cocktails and danced, and the rest of that. I’m not going into the rest of that. It’s neither here nor there, except that their lives are changed. They’re not the ones they were before. They’ve got a new life.

That is this man Paul, who was before a blasphemer, not an evangelist. He was a persecutor; now he’s a lover. He was afar off; now he is made nigh. What a transformation! No wonder he could say whether I live or whether I die makes no difference, just so long as Christ is magnified in my body.

“For to me to live is Christ, to die is gain.” In other words, his entire passion was Christ, not a dogma, not a creed, not an organization. But a person.

You know, I have met people who are more concerned about their organization than they are about the Saviour. I’m not. I don’t care about your organization. I’m not opposed to it. The thing I’m concerned about is Christ. This is the important thing. Whether I live, says Paul, or whether I die makes absolutely no difference. The one main passion of my life is Christ. To live, I’m going to mani­fest Christ. If I die, I’m going to be with Christ. And what’s the difference whether I live or whether I die, just so long as Christ is magnified in my body.

Oh, God give to us a passion like this.

Are you in love with the Saviour?

Are you—in love—with the Saviour?

You say, “Mr. Mitchell, how can I get this?”

My friend, the only one way I know is to get into the Word of God and walk in fellowship with your Saviour. This will be growth.

It won’t come overnight. It’s not going to come in five minutes or five hours. This is growth. God give to you and me a vision of Christ Himself.

Fall in love with Him.

And may you start today to be in love with Christ.

And the Lord bless you.

Verses 20-24

Good-day, friends. Again it gives me real joy, and I might say, blessing in having this privi­lege again of talking to you. I am more and more convinced that people today need to know the Word of God. How else can we know the purpose of God? How else can we know the things of God or even the very character of God apart from the Word of God? And we read in the Psalms that the entrance of God’s Word gives light. And faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God (Romans 10:17). Hence, it’s our great joy to come to you with this in our study in the book of Philippians.

Now, we’re in Philippians chapter one, and I would again like to read from verse 20 down through verse 24.

Philippians 1:20. According to my earnest expectation and my hope, that in nothing I shall be ashamed, but that with all boldness, as always, so now also Christ shall be magni­fied in my body, whether it be by life, or by death.

Philippians 1:21. For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.

Philippians 1:22. But if I live in the flesh, this is the fruit of my labour: yet what I shall choose, I wot not.

Philippians 1:23. For I am in a strait betwixt two, having a desire to depart, and to be with Christ; which is far better;

Philippians 1:24. Nevertheless to abide in the flesh is more needful for you.

Now I have read this portion of scripture because it has to do with Paul’s purpose in life and Paul’s prospects for the future. In our last lesson, we were dealing with this, Paul’s purpose in life in verses 20 and 21. I’m going to read the last part of verse 20 into 21: “that with all boldness, as always, so now also Christ shall be magnified in my body...for to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.”

You see, the great purpose of his life was to live Christ. It made no difference to Paul whether he lived or whether he died. His one great passion was that Christ might be magnified in his body. One can’t help but think of that when you remember Paul’s own testimony in Galatians 2:20, when he said, “I have been crucified with Christ. I no longer live, but Christ liveth in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God who loved me and gave him­self for me.”

You remember in Colossians 3:3-4, he could say, “We have died and our life is hid with Christ in God. And when Christ who is our life shall appear, then shall we also appear with Him in glory.” Or in 2 Corinthians 4:9, where we read, if I may give the revised text there, “Being ambitious to be found pleasing to Him.”

This man Paul had an entire passion for Christ. You can’t read the Epistles and you can’t read Paul’s life without recognizing here was a man who was a specialist for Christ. Nothing else mattered, as long as Christ was magnified. If he lived, he was going to live for Christ. If he was going to die, he’s going to be with Christ. So to him it made no difference whether he lived or whether he died, just as long as Christ was magnified.

I repeat his passion was a person, not a dogma, not a creed, not some religious organization, but a real, living person, the person of the Son of God, this one who has been exalted to be a Prince and a Saviour.

You know it would be a wonderful thing in these days if we who are Christians, we who have taken Christ as our Saviour, could come to that place where Christ is always the center of attraction, where He would be the object of our devotion, of our affections, of our love, the theme of our song, the theme of every message, Christ Jesus.

You know, one time a fellow said to me, “You know, Mr. Mitchell, God has more for you than you’ve got.”

And I had to tell him, “I have everything that is necessary in Christ.”

I wish in some way people could realize the kind of a Saviour we have. I was talking to a young lady, and she said, “Isn’t there more to it than just believing on Jesus Christ as Saviour?” “Well,” I said, “what more can you do to be saved?”

Now, the question of fellowship, the question of service is another thing. I’m talking about this matter of life. How do you receive life? What can I do to receive life? Nothing! When a person is dead in trespasses and sin, what he needs is life. But how are you going to get life? Through relation­ship to Jesus Christ. And when you and I accepted Christ as Saviour, He became our life. We not only had eternal life and resurrection life, but we read in John chapter 3:36, “He that hath the Son of God hath life.”

And in 1 John chapter 4 we have the same picture in 1 John 4:10-12. To have the Son of God is to have life.

And John 1:4, says, “In Him is life.”

Jesus could say, “I am the way, the truth, and the life!” (John 14:6). And when a person comes into relationship with Jesus Christ, he receives life, His life. In fact, He becomes our life. That’s what Paul is talking about. Not a dogma, I repeat it, not a dogma, or creed, or some religious organization, but a person. Christ is the center. All Paul’s living and working and dying, all was for Christ.

You know he was a prisoner. Don’t forget this. Paul was a prisoner in jail. He was in Rome. He was in jail because of his love for Christ. He could say in Ephesians chapter 4 and also chapter 3, “Paul a prisoner of Jesus Christ for you Gentiles” (Ephesians 3:1) and that was why he was in jail, a prisoner, chained to soldiers. He couldn’t go where he wanted to go. He couldn’t do what he wanted to do. He was chained to soldiers. And yet, in the frailty of his flesh he could say, “Whether I live or whether I die makes absolutely no difference. If I’m to be martyred for the glory of Christ, well, then good, as long as Christ is glorified through it.”

In other words, it makes no difference whether we live or die, what we do, what we say as long as Christ is magnified. It’s an amazing thing, this.

You know, there are some Christians who are weak and frail in their body. Some are sightless and helpless, but they are rejoicing in Christ. Their circumstances are not affecting their joy. This is victory! This is victory! I find other Christians who have strong, healthy bodies. They hardly know what an ache or a pain is. But they’re not full of joy. They’re not rejoicing in Christ. And that’s de­feat. You know, I’m tempted to say that over again. I have met Christians who are frail in body, who can’t go out, who are shut in, some blind, many helpless. But they’re rejoicing in the Saviour. Their circumstances do not affect their joy in Christ. I say this is victory.

On the other hand I see people with strong bodies, very strong bodies, healthy, and my, they’re busy as can be. But they’re not rejoicing in Christ. That’s failure. That’s defeat. And it’s not confessing Christ or to being like Christ.

This is why the Spirit of God indwells Christians. And when you and I yield ourselves to the Spirit of God, the result is that His life is lived through us. Allow me again to make some statements I’ve made so often and yet I feel like saying it. The life of Jesus Christ defies imitation. I meet a great many people who are trying to mimic Christ. He’s their pattern. And that’s all right. But remember, you could not live the life that Christ lived. He must live His life through you. And Christianity in re­ality is Christ living in and through His people.

I’m of the persuasion that when they called the believers in Antioch “Christians” (they were first called Christians at Antioch), I think it was because there was a revelation of Christ in their lives. Not so much in what they had to say, but their whole life was a revelation of the One who indwelled them. Their lives were a benediction to others. That was a joy to God. Their lives portrayed something of the very character of our Saviour.

You see, my Christian friend, what the world needs to see is Christ Jesus living in and through His people. And you and I become the channels. And God grant we might be like this man Paul whose very passion is Christ.

So what about people then? My friend, when your passion is Christ, then you will be filled with His compassion for lost men and women. There will be radiating through you something of the glory and sweetness of the character of Christ. Not in the sense of being reflectors of Christ. That’s wonderful. But to radiate Christ. As Paul could say that he might be a sweet aroma unto God and men (2 Corinthians 2:15). That something of the sweetness of our Saviour would be revealed in you and me in our actions, in our words, in our very attitudes, in the very motives we have of being for the ex­altation of Christ.

Don’t you think this is what the world needs to see in us Christians? Not an empty life, not a selfish life, not an egotistical life, but the precious Son of God living out His life in and through us.

Now, a woman can do that taking care of her family wherever she is, in the kitchen, in the of­fice, in the factory. Wherever we are, we’re there as God’s channel to reveal to the world our love for Him. And this will be displayed as we yield ourselves unto Him.

I just wanted to spend the time on that today. I just hope that will be a blessing to you.

May God grant to you and to me this passion for the person of Christ to be joined, not so much to a religious organization or to some dogma or to some creed. Now, these have their place. I’m not objecting to that. But what I want is that Christ Himself might be the very center of all that we are and all that we do. And may the Lord make it very precious to you today.

Just start for today. You can’t bring back yesterday. You’re not projecting yourself into to­morrow. But today, can’t you and I live for Jesus, today so that His life, His character, His beauty, His love, His tenderness, His compassion will be made manifest in your life and in my life? And thus, we shall become a benediction to others.

May this be your joy today. And the Lord wonderfully bless you for His name’s sake.

Good-day, friends. And again it gives me another opportunity to have real joy in talking to you about our precious Saviour. Let us study Philippians chapter one, verses 20 down through verse 24. And I don’t mind reading them over again. If you have your Bibles and your notebooks, just get them out and let us read together.

Philippians 1:20. According to my earnest expectation and my hope, that in nothing I shall be ashamed, but that with all boldness, as always, so now also Christ shall be magni­fied in my body, whether it be by life, or by death.

Philippians 1:21. For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.

Philippians 1:22. But if I live in the flesh, this is the fruit of my labour; yet what I shall choose I wot not.

Philippians 1:23. For I am in a strait betwixt two, having a desire to depart, and to be with Christ; which is far better;

Philippians 1:24. Nevertheless to abide in the flesh is more needful for you.

Now, we were discussing in our last lesson that the purpose of Paul in his life was to magnify and glorify Christ. Now, in verse 21, he could say, “For to me to live is Christ.” Nothing else, but Christ. He was a person living in relationship, in fellowship and exalting a Person.

I’m afraid in these last days most of us who are Christians and very active for the Lord are so occupied with the things of Christ and the things pertaining to the service of Christ, that sometimes we miss our fellowship in Christ. You see, Paul says, “I’m not sold out to a dogma, or a creed, or a re­ligious organization, etc. My great passion is Christ.” That’s why he could say in Philippians chapter three, “This one thing I do,” (Php 3:13). He was a specialist for Christ.

Now, what about his prospect, in Php 1:21, “to die is gain.” You know, when I read that, I wonder what Paul had in mind. What a wonderful prospect! Whether I live or whether I die. To be saved by Christ is wonderful. To walk with Christ, wonderful! But what about to die. What about leaving this scene? Nobody wants to die.

Paul said, “to die is gain.” What does he mean by that? My friend, this prospect has so capti­vated his heart that nothing else counts. As I said in the last lesson, he could say, “Whether I live, I’m going to be with Christ. And if I die, I’m going to be with Christ.” So what’s the difference? It’s a wonderful thing this, “to die is gain.” Or he goes on to say in verse 23, “To depart and to be with Christ is far better.” To live is wonderful, but to be with Christ is far better.

Did you even stop to think about this? Where do we Christians go when we leave this scene? Where do we go? Here I am getting up in years, possibly. What’s the future? What’s the future? I say, my friends, live, serve the Lord, die. Somebody else takes the place. They live so many years. They die. If the Lord should tarry, you and I will go the same way. Does it scare you? Are you full of fear?

My Christian friend, if you love the Saviour, do you know where you are going? I was asked this question yesterday, what would heaven be like?

And I said, “Well, the important thing is not getting to heaven. The important thing is to be sure you’re going to be there.” And one can be sure when one has come into the right relationship with the Saviour. He gives us eternal life. And when we leave this scene on earth, we go right into the very presence of the Lord.

Now, Paul here said, “I‘m in a strait betwixt two, having a desire to depart and be with Christ which is far better; but to die is gain.” In 2 Corinthians 5:6-8 he could say, “Ab­sent from the body is to be present with the Lord.” He could say in 2 Timothy 4:6-8, “The time of my departure is at hand. I have fought a good fight, I have finished the course. I have kept the faith. Therefore there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness which the Lord the Righ­teous Judge shall give me in that day; and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appear­ing.”

Dear Peter could say in 2 Peter 1:13-14, “the time of the putting off of my tabernacle is at hand” (verses13 and 14). They were not sorrowful. They were rejoicing. I wonder if we have caught the same spirit of our Saviour.

Do you remember in John 14:27-28, where our Saviour said, “My peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. Ye have heard how I said unto you, I go away, and come again unto you. If ye loved me, ye would rejoice, because I said, I go unto the Father;” If you only knew, said Jesus, what’s on the other side, you would rejoice. Instead of being sorrowful, you’d be happy because I said, “I go to my Fa­ther.”

Now, I think Paul caught a glimpse of this. And if I remember correctly, the Apostle Paul could say in 2 Corinthians, “I knew a man, whether in the flesh or not, who was caught up to the third heaven, He was caught up to paradise, and saw so many wonderful things which were not lawful for him to utter. And lest he become puffed up, because of the abundance of the revelation, there was giv­en to me a thorn in the flesh,” says Paul. “That I might not be puffed up beyond measure.”

My, what is on the other side! Jesus said, “If you only knew, you would rejoice because I said, I go to my Father.”

Paul could say, “I’m in betwixt two. I want to go to be with the Lord which is far better. But when I think of you folk in your need, I’d better stay down here.” My, what a prospect. What a prospect! I wonder what kind of a prospect you have. To be with the Lord is far better.

Oh, when I think of this, exchanging faith for sight, exchanging frailty for power, exchang­ing weakness for strength, exchanging earth for heaven, exchanging a world that’s under the domina­tion of sin and entering into the presence of God where righteousness dwells. And one could make the contrast over and over again.

My friends, I think too many of us Christians have got our roots too deeply imbedded in the earth. You remember, in the thirteenth chapter of Matthew the Lord likens the believer to wheat. There’s not much of wheat in the ground. Most of it is reaching up to heaven. And we Christians ought to be in that place where Christ so captivates us that there’ll be a yearning.

Now, that sounds like a man who has got two feet already in heaven or in the grave, doesn’t it? No, I’m trying to present to you today, there is something ahead of us that’s so glorious and so won­derful that human language can’t begin to express it. If you could only know, said Jesus. If you only knew what was in my Father’s house. If you only knew what was on the other side. If you only knew where I was going, you would rejoice. And Paul, I say, caught a glimpse of it. “To be with the Lord is far better.”

It may be I’m talking to some Christians and you’re very, very, weak in body and you’re afraid of the future. Listen, don’t be afraid. Jesus said, “I will never leave you, nor forsake you” (He­brews 13:5). He takes you by the hand. You see, he went through death. He tasted death for us. He went down into the very bowels of death, man’s greatest enemy, man’s last enemy. He went for the purpose of giving us victory and deliverance from death.

You see, when a Christian leaves here, he goes immediately into the presence of God. He doesn’t go to purgatory or some other place. He doesn’t go into a place of soul sleeping. He goes right into the very presence of God. And you know, I think the Psalmist must have had a little taste of this when he said, “In thy presence is fullness of joy. At thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore” (Psalms 16:11).

And even dear Job in chapter 19 must have caught a glimpse of the glory when he said, “Though worms destroy this body, I shall yet in my flesh see God by my side. And when I see Him, He’s not a stranger” (Job 19:26-27). And Paul says, “Absent from the body is present with the Lord” (2 Corinthians 5:8). Isn’t it wonderful that death and the grave are defeated!

My Christian friends, you may go through the shadow of death. But you don’t go into death. We’ve been delivered from that! Our Saviour could say in John 8:51, “If a man keep my sayings, he shall never see death.” Although Christians die, they leave these bodies, that’s true. But what about the man who lived in the body. What about you the person who lived in that body. You go immediately into the very presence of the living God.

Isn’t it amazing that God should make it possible for men and women like you and me to be redeemed, to forgive us for every sin, to cleanse us from all unrighteousness, to give us eternal life and declare to us we will never come into judgment but we’ll come right into the very presence of God, acceptable. My friend, what a prospect!

What a prospect!

That’s why Paul could say in Php 1:20, “Just as long as Christ is magnified in my body, whether it be by life, or whether it be by death.” This is what cheered the early martyrs who embraced the flames when they were being burned to death for Christ. They embraced the flames and praised the Lord and they went out into glory not cursing, not bitter, but rejoicing that they were going right now into the very presence of God. Something of this gripped the early church when they even longed for martyrdom because it meant they’d be in the presence of the living Saviour, their glorified Saviour. What a prospect.

What a prospect!

We live down here three score years and ten and if by reason of strength, fourscore years. You live eighty, ninety years of age and then what? And then what? My friend, for the man who has trust­ed in Jesus Christ, he goes right into the very presence of God to be glorified for the very glory of God.

And as Paul could say, “When Christ who is our life shall appear, then shall we also appear with Him in glory” (Colossians 3:4). That’s our prospect. This is our hope. This is our hope. Good­night, earth. Good-morning, glory!

Do you have that hope today? Do you have that anticipation? Do you have that prospect? You can have it, my friends, by putting your trust in Jesus Christ as your own personal Saviour. Relationship with Christ means life and resurrection and eternal, satisfying life.

And I trust that those of you who are frail in body and perhaps you’re not much of a prospect for the earth will remember that to be with the Lord is far better.

Revel in that today and rejoice in God your Saviour.

Verses 25-30

Good-day, friends. Isn’t it wonderful these days that we can sit down for a few moments and listen to the Word of God and meditate together on the wonderful prospects that God has held toward us.

We’ve been discussing in our last few lessons in the book of Philippians, chapter one, that Paul’s great passion is Christ. Christ is the very center of his affections, of his devotion, of his whole life. He is not occupied with some side issue, but with the person of Christ. And may I again say and I’m sorry to say this, but it’s so true of most of us. We become so occupied with our service and our organizations and with what-have-you, that we’ve missed, missed, the joy of HIM, our Saviour and Lord.

You know in the book of Luke, chapter 10, at the end of the chapter, you remember Jesus go­ing into the house of Mary and Martha and Lazarus and how Martha was cumbered with much service and she asked the Lord to send Mary to help her. All Mary was doing was sitting down at His feet, and Martha was doing all the work. This was the implication. And of how the Lord Jesus said to Martha, “Mary hath chosen that good part which shall not be taken from her.” Why? Mary sat at His feet for instruction. It’s an amazing thing how we people who are Christians, shall I say, allow God’s time that has been given to us to slip by day after day, year after year, and we grow so little in the things of Christ. Oh, that we might have more men like Paul who whether we lived or whether we died, only want Christ to be magnified.

We were dealing in our last lesson with this man’s great passion and with the prospect that he had, that he would be with the Lord which was far better. Now, following this, you have the Apostle Paul giving to us an exhortation on steadfastness. Allow me to read now, from Philippians 1:25:

Philippians 1:25. And having this confidence (having spoken of his purpose and of his prospect of being with the Lord) And having this confidence, I know that I shall abide and con­tinue with you all for your furtherance and joy of faith;

Philippians 1:26. That your rejoicing may be more abundant in Jesus Christ for me by my coming to you again.

In other words, he wanted to live both that they in turn might be filled with joy and usefulness for the Saviour, and that their rejoicing might be more abundant in the Lord Himself.

Now from verse 27 on, he talks about practical Christianity. And here he really steps out to speak about how we as Christians ought to conduct our lives. It’s an exhortation on steadfastness. Al­low me to read verse 27 down through to the end of the passage—a very few words.

Philippians 1:27. Only let your conversation (manner of life) be as it becometh the gospel of Christ: that whether I come and see you, or else be absent, I may hear of your affairs, that ye stand fast in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the Gospel;

Philippians 1:28. And in nothing terrified by your adversaries: which is to them an evident token of perdition, but to you of salvation, and that of God.

Philippians 1:29. For unto you it is given in the behalf of Christ, not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for his sake;

Philippians 1:30. Having the same conflict which ye saw in me, and now hear to be in me.

Now, may I just suggest in verse 27 that whatever happens, walk as though you expect to be with Christ. Walk as though you are preparing for glory. That’s where we belong, and we’re just down here doing a job for God. And when our job is done, we’re going to go Home. In the meantime, how shall I live as a Christian?

So, he says, “Let your manner of life be as it becometh the gospel, so that whether I come and see you or not, I may hear of your affairs, that you stand fast in one spirit, with one mind striving to­gether for the faith of the gospel.” I say, whatever happens, walk as though you expect to be with Christ.

You see, Philippi was a colony, and being a colony it was governed from Rome and protected by Rome. Indeed, all that Rome was was behind Philippi. And with that in mind, you could say, all that is for God, His power, His grace, His tenderness is behind His people. In other words, all the forces of heaven are behind us as believers. Hence, walk as becometh the gospel of Christ. You see, we belong to heaven.

When you come to the third chapter, he could say in the 20th verse, “Our citizenship is in heaven.” This is where we belong.

“Well, you say, “What in the world are we doing down here?”

Well, we’re down here on business.

You say, “Well, that’s all right for you preachers.”

Just a minute. Every Christian is a minister of God. And we by our lives and by our words are either bringing glory and praise to God or just the opposite. And too often, we as Christians dishonor the name of the Lord by the way we act.

Now Paul is saying this. He has just given his own testimony that Christ be magnified. This is the great passion of his life. If by living he can glorify Christ, then let me live. And if I die and by my dying Christ is glorified, “then let me die. It makes no difference,” says Paul. In other words, we Christians are bound for glory. Part of the purpose of God is to present you and me before Himself spotless.

As Romans 8:29 says, “God hath determined that we shall be conformed to the image of His Son.” This is our prospect, that we’re going to be just like Jesus; and by the way the apostle John makes the same statement in 1 John 3:2 when he says, “When we see Him, we shall be like Him for we shall see Him as He is.”

And even the Psalmist could say in the 17^th Psalm, “I shall be satisfied when I awake in thy likeness” (verse 15). This is the prospect of every Christian whether he knows it or not. You’re going to stand in the presence of God just like the Lord Jesus. This is what thrilled the heart of Paul. He is going to share with Him in His glory.

That’s what he could say in Romans 8:18. “I reckon the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.” You see, he caught a glimpse of the glory, and nothing else mattered. Once he caught a glimpse of Christ in His righteous­ness and of the prospect ahead of him, nothing, nothing affected him down here, martyrdom or any­thing else. Circumstances did not rob him of his joy and blessing in the Saviour.

And remember again he wrote this while he was in chains and fetters in Rome, a prisoner of Jesus Christ for you Gentiles. Months in jail, months in jail. And by the way, their jails were not like they are here. These were jails of the first century with brutal jailors and terrible conditions. Yet he could rejoice in the Lord as I said the other day. This is victory. This is really victory. Circumstances don’t alter the ground for your joy.

As he said in chapter 4, “Rejoice in the Lord always: and again I say, Rejoice” (verse 4). But He wants our lives. We are to live our lives in view of the glory, in view of the prospects. I’ve said this before and I repeat it, and I say this reverently, that God will not be satisfied with you or me until we stand in His presence conformed to the image of His Son, to be just like the Lord Jesus. And God has purposed this. And because God has purposed this, it’s going to be carried out. Hence, we rejoice whether we live or whether we die.

So, said Paul, “Let your manner of life be as it becometh the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Whether I come to see you, or whether I don’t see you, I want to hear about your affairs and what I want to hear is that you’re standing fast in one spirit with one mind, striving together for the faith of the Gospel. And don’t be terrified that it produces suffering. Your stand for the Gospel is going to produce suffer­ing.”

Remember in Timothy he could say, “If we suffer with Him, we shall reign with Him” (2 Timothy 2:12). All that live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution. Now, that doesn’t necessar­ily mean physical persecution. In Paul’s day, it did. Some of these dear Christians were beheaded, had their eyes put out, their tongues pulled out, were burned at the stake, were thrown to wild animals and gladiators and so on. We don’t go through that today. Our opposition is more subtle.

Satan has learned a lot of lessons. He knows that he can’t stamp out the gospel by persecution. It is well said, that the martyrdom of Christians was the seed of the church. It grows. The more you persecute the Christians, the more they grow. It purifies and drives them to the Saviour. Satan is more subtle today. He gets us occupied with the things of the world. He gets us occupied with the materialistic philosophy of life. He gets us occupied with ourselves. He shuts up the testimony we might have toward men.

Satan hates Christ, hates the Word of God, hates the people of God, especially when they’re trying to please Christ. So Satan is more subtle than he used to be. He’s pretty wise. He is full of wisdom. He’s subtle. And so he gets at you, but not by physical persecution.

If someone were to come to your room with a gun and say, “You either give up your faith in Christ or I’ll shoot you.”

You’d say, “Shoot away, brother, I’m not going to give up my faith in Christ.”

There will be a certain joy and honor in that. But Satan is more subtle today. You know what he does? He comes along with trickery. He gets you occupied with passing temporal things. He gets you occupied with yourself. He gets you occupied with the failure of others. He gets you full of criti­cism of other Christians. Anything, but Christ. Anything, but Christ. And the result is your testimony is thwarted. The Gospel of Christ doesn’t go out.

Think of the fact of the tremendous mass media of communication today, and that the great majority of the people of the world know nothing of Christ. See, he’s subtle. He knows that, if he per­secutes the church, it’s going to purify the church and the testimony will be purer; and people will be saved.

Oh, God grant to us today that we will conduct our lives pleasing to Him as it becometh those who have been redeemed by precious blood, as becometh those who are going to stand in the presence of God conformed to His image.

You see, in view of the prospects, how shall I live? That’s why John says, “Everyone who hath this hope set on Him, purifies himself even as He is pure” (1 John 3:3).

And when I think of the prospects that are sure, that are good, that are certain, then how shall I conduct my life? As one who belongs to God in the midst of a world that’s opposed to Him. And cir­cumstances are not going to change it. I’m going to live for God, aren’t you?

May the Lord bless you today. And may today be a day of joy and rejoicing for you because of your prospects of seeing the Saviour face to face.

And the Lord bless you for His name’s sake.

Good-day, friends. We’re still in chapter one at the end of the chapter. I trust that these few lessons thus far in Philippians will stir your heart to know what real Christian experience is.

Christian experience is the enjoyment of Christ. A Spirit-filled life is the enjoyment of divine life. And there’s been so much distortion these days concerning these truths that people have missed the simplicity of it all and the wonder of it all that God expects us to be happy Christians, joyful Christians in spite of our circumstances.

Now, this is a supernatural thing. There is a place in Christ where one can be full of joy and rejoicing in that calmness, that peace that passeth all understanding in spite of our circumstances.

I’ve received mail from different ones at times, and I confess that if I were in their circum­stances the Lord would have had to give me tremendous grace. But He would give the grace. And I’m always glad that He remembers my frame, that I am just dust (Psalms 103:14). And that He has promised never to leave me, nor to forsake me (Hebrews 13:5).

And Jesus could say, “Lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:20). It’s a marvelous thing, a wonderful thing to know that there’s not a second of the day that the Lord Jesus ever leaves any one of His people. Even though they’re in frailty and even though they fail God, He never leaves them. His name is faithful, and He still loves you. Even our failures and our frailties and our weaknesses do not affect the love of God for us. Oh, how glad I am for that! My love can get hot or can be cold or lukewarm. But His never changes. My, what a Saviour we have. What a Saviour we have! What a Lord we have.

And what a prospect He has given to us to be conformed to the image of Christ. To be with the Lord is far better, far better. What a prospect! And because of this, because we’re bound for glory, be­cause we’re fitted for God’s presence, because we’re the children of One who is God, because we’re going to become conformed to His image, He wants us to live as becometh the Gospel, to conduct our lives pleasing to God.

But such a life is going to bring persecution. It’s going to bring opposition. And it will come in unexpected quarters. It may be in your own house, from your own family, from your neighbor. I don’t know where it’s going to come from, but there’s going to be some opposition. I do not say that it’s going to be physical. It could be and quite often it is just a slighting remark of criticism of God’s people, that sarcasm, that cynical attitude, that declaration that those who believe the Bible and put their trust in Jesus have something wrong with them. It may come from any corner. However, listen to this. I’m reading from Philippians chapter one:

Philippians 1:28. And in nothing be terrified by your adversaries: which is to them an evident token of perdition, but to you of salvation, and that of God.

Philippians 1:29. For unto you it is given in the behalf of Christ, not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for his sake;

Philippians 1:30. Having the same conflict which ye saw in me, and now hear to be in me.

Don’t be afraid of your adversaries. To them it is an evident token of perdition, but to you of salvation, and that of God. You know, I’m going to take the time to read two or three passages of scripture. I know I’m talking to some possibly who have been opposed in their testimony, and they’re getting discouraged. My friend, don’t be discouraged! The common lot of God’s people when they walk with God is opposition.

Allow me to read from the first book of Thessalonians chapter 2. Now, here is another church that suffered great persecutions. In fact, the Apostle Paul never went back to Thessalonica because he did not want to add to the persecutions and the sufferings through which they were going for Christ’s sake. But he writes to them these words. I’m reading from chapter 2 of 1 Thessalonians, verse 14.

“For ye, brethren, became followers of the churches of God which in Judea are in Christ Je­sus: for ye also have suffered like things of your own countrymen, even as they have of the Jews: Who both killed the Lord Jesus, and their own prophets, and have persecuted us; and they please not God, and are contrary to all men: Forbidding us to speak to the Gentiles that they might be saved, to fill up their sins always: for the wrath is come upon them to the uttermost” (verses 14-16).

See, they suffered, and yet, they were happy in the Saviour. And they had the same prospects that you have. They were looking for the coming of the Lord. They knew they were going to stand in the presence of God in all the beauty of Christ.

Now, in the second book of Thessalonians, the first chapter, allow me to read these words, starting in verse 4:

“So that we ourselves glory in you in the churches of God for your patience and faith in all your persecutions and tribulations that ye endure: Which is a manifest token of the righteous judgment of God, that ye may be counted worthy of the kingdom of God, for which ye also suffer; Seeing it is a righteous thing with God to recompense tribulation to them that trouble you: And to you who are trou­bled rest with us (be patient), when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty an­gels, In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ; Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power; When he shall come to be glorified in his saints, and to be admired in all them that believe (because our testimony among you was believed) in that day” (verses 4-10).

You see, Paul here makes a contrast, when he says to you, your very opposition, your very suffering is a token that you belong to God. And that God is going to glorify you with His Son in that day. And to those who are causing the persecution, to those who oppose you, our God is going to come in flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God and obey not the Gospel.

To us Christians, it was suffering for our testimony’s sake. It’s an evident token that we be­long to God. And, to those who trouble you, those who persecute you, to those who oppose you, it’s an evident token of perdition. Perdition. You remember in 1 Corinthians chapter one verse 18, where Paul writes, “The preaching of the cross is to them that perish, foolishness. But unto us who are saved it is the power of God.” And those who look upon the message of the Gospel as being foolishness— it’s an evident token that they belong to those who perish.

Just like we’ve said so often, the resurrection of Jesus Christ is God’s proof to those who be­lieve in Christ, God’s proof to them that they have a salvation that’s perfect, that’s eternal, that’s sure. But by the same token, the resurrection of Jesus Christ is a guarantee of judgment to those who reject Him. You see, God makes a cleavage between the children of God and the children of wrath. And if you’re a child of God and you’re suffering for your testimony’s sake, rejoice! It’s another proof to you that you belong to God.

You remember in John chapter 15, reading from verse 18 on, where the Lord Jesus could say to His disciples, “If the world doesn’t listen to me, it won’t listen to you. If the world rejects my testi­mony, it will reject yours. If the world persecutes me, it will persecute you.”

And he goes on into the sixteenth chapter when He says, “The time will come when he that killeth you will think that he doeth God service. And they’ll do this because they know not the Father nor me” (John 16:2-3). You see, it’s not an uncommon thing for a Christian to be persecuted. And, if you’re walking before God, don’t be surprised if you lose friends.

But may I say this, and I say this on the ground of personal experience, that for every one that I gave up, or should I put it the other way around, everyone that gave me up because of my love for the Saviour, God’s given me ten more friends.

You know it’s not a hard thing to witness for Christ. It’s not a hard thing to give things up for Christ. It’s not a hard thing to give up friends for Christ. The hardest thing is when the friends give up you. Then you know how much pride you’ve got.

I know that. I went through that. And you can lose friends because of your faith in Christ. But don’t let that trouble you. God will make it up to you. God will never be in your debt, my friend. And if you lose friends because of your faith in Christ, then He’s got some better friends for you.

Isn’t it an amazing thing that you and I are the objects of His love? He permits these things to come into our lives to draw us closer to himself. So, you see, the very opposition, the suffering through which He makes you go because you love the Saviour is an evident token from God to you that you belong to Him and that eternal glory is for you. Also, it is an evident token of judgment and perdition to those who oppose the Gospel. So may I say in closing today. It’s a wonderful thing to be­long to the Saviour.

And let us not be cold in our testimony. Let us not draw back in our witnessing for the Saviour because of opposition. You can expect opposition. But please don’t make it so that you must have op­position.

Now, I know Christians who do things because they expect to have opposition and they glo­ry in their opposition when they themselves have caused the opposition, not their love for the Saviour. They wanted to be in the limelight. I’m not talking about that sort of a thing.

Right in your home, right at the job where you work, in the factory or in the office, wherever it may be, wherever you are, whatever you do, live a faithful, consistent life for God. Don’t worry about other things.

You ask, “Do I have to preach to people?”

Not a bit of it! I’d rather you’d live for Christ. And when you live for Christ and you walk in fellowship with Him, your own life will be a testimony of the transforming power of God. And what­ever the circumstances may be, you’re going to live for Christ; so that, whether by life or whether by death, Christ will be magnified in your body.

This is it—that Christ Jesus will be the very center of your affection and devotion and the theme of your testimony.

May you have joy today in Him.

And the Lord bless you for His name’s sake.