is finally dismantled and exchanged for permanent residence in the world of glory.
(2) It is the word for loosening the mooring ropes, pulling up the anchors and setting sail. Death is a setting sail, a departure on that voyage which leads to the everlasting haven and to God.
(3) It is the word for solving problems. Death brings life’s solutions. There is some place where all earth’s questions will be answered and where those who have waited will in the end understand.
It is Paul’s conviction that he will remain and continue with them. There is a word-play in the Greek that cannot be reproduced in the English. The word for to remain is menein, and that for to continue is paramenein. The biblical scholar J. B. Lightfoot suggests the translation bide and abide. That keeps the word-play, but does not give the meaning. The point is this: menein simply means to remain with; but paramenein (para is the Greek for beside) means to wait beside a person, always ready to help. Paul’s desire to live is not for his own sake, but for the sake of those whom he can continue to help.
So, if Paul is spared to come and see them again, they will have in him grounds to boast in Jesus Christ. That is to say, they will be able to look at him and see in him a shining example of how, through Christ, they can face the worst standing tall and unafraid. It is the duty of every Christian to trust in this way so that others will be able to see what Christ can do for those who have given their lives to him.
CITIZENS OF THE KINGDOM
Philippians 1:27–30
One thing you must see to, whatever happens – live a life that is worthy of a citizen of the kingdom and of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you, or whether I go away and hear how things go with you, the news will be that you are standing fast, united in one spirit, fighting with one soul the battle of the gospel’s faith, and that you are not put into fluttering alarm by any of your adversaries. For your steadfastness is a proof to them that they are doomed to defeat, while you are destined for salvation – and that from God. For to you has been given the privilege of doing something for Christ – the privilege not only of believing in him, but also of suffering for him, for you have the same struggle as that in which you have seen me engaged, and which now you hear that I am undergoing.
ONE thing is essential – no matter what happens either to them or to Paul, the Philippians must live in a manner that is worthy of their faith and the belief they declare. Paul chooses his words very carefully. The Authorized Version has it: ‘Let your conversation be as it becometh the gospel of Christ.’ Nowadays this is misleading. To us, conversation means talk; but it is derived from the Latin word conversari, which means to conduct oneself. In the seventeenth century, conversation was not only a person’s way of speaking to other people; it was that individual’s whole behaviour. The phrase means: ‘Let your behaviour be worthy of those who are pledged to Christ.’
But, on this occasion, Paul uses a word which he very seldom uses in order to express his meaning. The word he would normally use for to conduct oneself in the ordinary affairs of life is peripatein, which literally means to walk about; here he uses politeuesthai, which means to be a citizen. Paul was writing from the very centre of the Roman Empire, from Rome itself; it was the fact that he was a Roman citizen that had brought him there. Philippi was a Roman colony; and Roman colonies were little bits of Rome planted throughout the world, where the citizens never forgot that they were Romans. They spoke the Latin language, wore the usual Latin clothes and called their magistrates by the Latin names, however far they might be from Rome. So, what Paul is saying is: ‘You and I know full well the privileges and the responsibilities of being a Roman citizen. You know full well how even in Philippi, so many miles from Rome, you must still live and act as a Roman does. Well then, remember that you have an even higher duty than that. Wherever you are, you must live as befits a citizen of the kingdom of God.’
What does Paul expect from them? He expects them to stand fast. The world is full of Christians on the retreat, who, when things become difficult, play down their Christianity. True Christians stand fast, unashamed in any company. He expects unity; they are to be bound together in one spirit. Let the world quarrel; Christians must be united. He expects a certain unconquerability. Often, evil seems invincible; but Christians must never abandon hope or give up the struggle. He expects a cool, calm courage. In times of crisis, others may be nervous and afraid; Christians will still be serene, in control of themselves and of the situation.
If they can be like that, they will set such an example that those who are not Christians will be disgusted with their own way of life, will realize that the Christians have something they do not possess, and will seek out of a sense of self-preservation to share it.
Paul does not suggest that this will be easy. When Christianity first came to Philippi, they saw him fight his own battle. They saw him beaten and imprisoned for the faith (Acts 16:19). They know what he is now going through. But let them remember that a general chooses the best soldiers for the hardest tasks, and that it is an honour to suffer for Christ. There is a story about a veteran French soldier who, in a desperate situation, found a young recruit trembling with fear. ‘Come, son,’ said the veteran, ‘and you and I will do something fine for France.’ So Paul says to the Philippians: ‘For you and for me the battle is on; let us do something fine for Christ.’
THE CAUSES OF DISUNITY
Philippians 2:1–4
If the fact that you are in Christ has any power to influence you, if love has any persuasive power to move you, if you really are sharing in the Holy Spirit, if you can feel compassion and pity, complete my joy, for my desire is that you should be in full agreement, loving the same things, joined together in soul, your minds set on the one thing. Do nothing in a spirit of selfish ambition, and in a search for empty glory, but in humility let each consider the other better than himself. Do not be always concentrating each on your own interests, but let each be equally concerned for the interests of others.
THE one danger which threatened the Philippian church was that of disunity. There is a sense in which that is the danger of every healthy church. It is when people are really serious and their beliefs really matter to them that they are apt to come into conflict with one another. The greater their enthusiasm, the greater the danger that they may collide. It is against that danger Paul wishes to safeguard his friends.
In verses 3–4, he gives us the three great causes of disunity.
There is selfish ambition. There is always the danger that people might work not to advance the work but to advance themselves. It is extraordinary how time and again the great leaders of the Church almost fled from office in the agony of the sense of their own unworthiness.
Ambrose was one of the great figures of the early Church. A great scholar, he was the Roman governor of the province of Liguria and Aemilia in the fourth century, and he governed with such loving care that the people regarded him as a father. The bishop of the district died, and the question of his successor arose. In the middle of the discussion, suddenly a little child’s voice was heard: ‘Ambrose – bishop! Ambrose – bishop!’ The whole crowd took up the cry. To Ambrose, it was unthinkable. At night, he fled to avoid the high office the Church was offering him, and it was only the direct intervention and command of the emperor which made him agree to become Bishop of Milan.
When John Rough publicly from the pulpit in St Andrews summoned him to the ministry, the Scottish reformer John Knox was appalled. In his own History of the Reformation, he writes: ‘Thereat the said John, abashed, burst forth in most abundant tears, and withdrew himself to his chamber. His countenance and behaviour, from that day until the day that he was compelled to present himself in the public place of preaching,
