27 Only let your behaviour do credit to the good news of Christ, so that if I come and see you or if I am away from you, I may have news of you that you are strong in one spirit, working together with one soul for the faith of the good news;
I then, the prisoner in the Lord, make this request from my heart, that you will see that your behaviour is a credit to the position which God's purpose has given you,
My loved ones, while my thoughts were full of a letter which I was going to send you about our common salvation, it was necessary for me to send you one requesting you with all my heart to go on fighting strongly for the faith which has been given to the saints once and for ever.
So then, my loved ones, as you have at all times done what I say, not only when I am present, but now much more when I am not with you, give yourselves to working out your salvation with fear in your hearts;
Be on the watch, unmoved in the faith, and be strong like men. Let all you do be done in love.
If then there is any comfort in Christ, any help given by love, any uniting of hearts in the Spirit, any loving mercies and pity, Make my joy complete by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in harmony and of one mind;
<A Song of the going up. Of David.> See how good and how pleasing it is for brothers to be living together in harmony!
My prayer is not for them only, but for all who will have faith in me through their word; May they all be one! Even as you, Father, are in me and I am in you, so let them be in us, so that all men may come to have faith that you sent me.
And all those who were of the faith were one in heart and soul: and not one of them said that any of the things which he had was his property only; but they had all things in common.
For as the body is one, and has a number of parts, and all the parts make one body, so is Christ. For through the baptism of the one Spirit we were all formed into one body, Jews or Greeks, servants or free men, and were all made full of the same Spirit. For the body is not one part, but a number of parts. If the foot says, Because I am not the hand, I am not a part of the body; it is no less a part of the body. And if the ear says, Because I am not the eye, I am not a part of the body; it is a part of the body all the same. If all the body was an eye, where would be the hearing? if all was hearing, where would be the smelling? But now God has put every one of the parts in the body as it was pleasing to him. And if they were all one part, where would the body be? But now they are all different parts, but one body. And the eye may not say to the hand, I have no need of you: or again the head to the feet, I have no need of you. No, those parts which seem to be feeble are the more necessary; And to those parts of the body which seem to have less honour we give all the more honour; and to those parts of the body which are a cause of shame to us we give the greater respect; But those parts of the body which are beautiful have no need of such care: and so the body has been joined together by God in such a way as to give more honour to those parts which had need of it; So that there might be no division in the body; but all the parts might have the same care for one another. And if there is pain in one part of the body, all the parts will be feeling it; or if one part is honoured, all the parts will be glad. Now you are the body of Christ, and every one of you the separate parts of it. And God has put some in the church, first, Apostles; second, prophets; third, teachers; then those with wonder-working powers, then those with the power of taking away disease, helpers, wise guides, users of strange tongues. Are all Apostles? are all prophets? are all teachers? have all the power of working wonders? Are all able to take away disease? have all the power of tongues? are all able to give their sense? But let your desires be turned to the more important things given by the Spirit. And now I am pointing out to you an even better way.
Let this be my last word, brothers; be glad; be complete; be comforted; be of the same mind; be at peace with one another: and the God of love and peace will be with you.
Taking care to keep the harmony of the Spirit in the yoke of peace. There is one body and one Spirit, even as you have been marked out by God in the one hope of his purpose for you; One Lord, one faith, one baptism, One God and Father of all, who is over all, and through all, and in all.
Living uprightly in the approval of the Lord, giving fruit in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God;
And last of all, the prayer which we make to you from our heart and in the name of the Lord Jesus, is this: that as we made clear to you what sort of behaviour is pleasing to God, as in fact you are doing now, so you will go on in these ways, but more and more.
For it gave me great joy when some of the brothers came and gave witness that you had the true faith and were walking in the true way. I have no greater joy than to have news that my children are walking in the true way.
Not taking what is not theirs, but giving clear signs of their good faith, in all things doing credit to the teaching of God our Saviour.
And through this he has given us the hope of great rewards highly to be valued; so that by them we might have our part in God's being, and be made free from the destruction which is in the world through the desires of the flesh. So, for this very cause, take every care; joining virtue to faith, and knowledge to virtue, And self-control to knowledge, and a quiet mind to self-control, and fear of God to a quiet mind, And love of the brothers to fear of God, and to love of the brothers, love itself. For if you have these things in good measure, they will make you fertile and full of fruit in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. For the man who has not these things is blind, seeing only what is near, having no memory of how he was made clean from his old sins.
And the fruit of righteousness is planted in peace for those who make peace.
Hearing of the love and the faith which you have to the Lord Jesus and to all the saints;
For the Lord will give support to their cause, and take the life of those who take their goods.
And having knowledge of their thoughts he said to them, Every kingdom having division in itself is made waste, and every town or house having division in itself will come to destruction.
But after some days, Felix came with Drusilla his wife, who was of the Jews by birth, and sent for Paul, and gave hearing to him about faith in Christ Jesus.
Through whom grace has been given to us, sending us out to make disciples to the faith among all nations, for his name:
For I have no feeling of shame about the good news, because it is the power of God giving salvation to everyone who has faith, to the Jew first, and then to the Greek.
But what does it say? The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart: that is, the word of faith of which we are the preachers:
And I am certain that when I come, I will be full of the blessing of Christ.
For this cause, my dear brothers, be strong in purpose and unmoved, ever giving yourselves to the work of the Lord, because you are certain that your work is not without effect in the Lord.
For when, through this work of giving, they see what you are, they give glory to God for the way in which you have given yourselves to the good news of Christ, and for the wealth of your giving to them and to all;
Which is not another sort: only there are some who give you trouble, desiring to make changes in the good news of Christ.
For this cause I, having had news of the faith in the Lord Jesus which is among you, and which you make clear to all the saints,
But I have faith in the Lord that I myself will come before long.
Even as you saw how, like a father with his children, we were teaching and comforting you all, and giving witness, So that your lives might be pleasing to God, who has given you a part in his kingdom and his glory.
But now that Timothy has come to us from you, and has given us good news of your faith and love, and that you have happy memories of us, desiring greatly to see us, even as we do to see you;
Keeping faith, and being conscious of well-doing; for some, by not doing these things, have gone wrong in relation to the faith:
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Matthew Henry Commentary » Commentary on Philippians 1
Commentary on Philippians 1 Matthew Henry Commentary
Chapter 1
He begins with the inscription and benediction (v. 1, 2). He gives thanks for the saints at Philippi (v. 3-6). He speaks of his great affection and concern for their spiritual welfare (v. 7, 8), his prayers for them (v. 9-11), his care to prevent their offence at his sufferings (v. 12-20), his readiness to glorify Christ by life or death (v. 21-26), and then concludes with a double exhortation to strictness and constancy (v. 27-30).
Phl 1:1-2
We have here the inscription and benediction. Observe,
Phl 1:3-6
The apostle proceeds after the inscription and benediction to thanksgiving for the saints at Philippi. He tells them what it was he thanked God for, upon their account. Observe here,
Phl 1:7-8
The apostle expresses the ardent affection he had for them, and his concern for their spiritual welfare: I have you in my heart, v. 7. He loved them as his own soul, and they lay near his heart. He thought much of them, and was in care about them. Observe,
Phl 1:9-11
These verses contain the prayers he put up for them. Paul often let his friends know what it was he begged of God for them, that they might know what to beg for themselves and be directed in their own prayers, and that they might be encouraged to hope they should receive from God the quickening, strengthening, everlasting, comforting grace, which so powerful an intercessor as Paul asked of God for them. It is an encouragement to us to know that we are prayed for by our friends, who, we have reason to think, have an interest at the throne of grace. It was intended likewise for their direction in their walk, and that they might labour to answer his prayers for them; for by this it would appear that God had answered them. Paul, in praying thus for them, expected good concerning them. It is an inducement to us to do our duty, that we may not disappoint the expectations of praying friends and ministers. He prayed,
Phl 1:12-20
We see here the care the apostle takes to prevent their being offended at his sufferings. He was now a prisoner at Rome; this might be a stumbling-block to those who had received the gospel by his ministry. They might be tempted to think, If this doctrine were indeed of God, God would not suffer one who was so active and instrumental in preaching and propagating it to be thrown by as a despised broken vessel. They might be shy of owning this doctrine, lest they should be involved in the same trouble themselves. Now to take off the offence of the cross, he expounds this dark and hard chapter of his sufferings, and makes it very easy and intelligible, and reconcilable to the wisdom and goodness of God who employed him.
Phl 1:21-26
We have here an account of the life and death of blessed Paul: his life was Christ, and his death was gain. Observe,
Phl 1:27-30
The apostle concludes the chapter with two exhortations:-