Philippians 1:12-18

CRITICAL AND EXPLANATORY NOTES

Philippians 1:12. The things which happened unto me.—Precisely the same phrase as in Ephesians 6:21; is translated “my affairs” (so Colossians 4:7). These circumstances were such as naturally would fill the friends of the apostle with concern for him personally. As to the effect on the spread of the gospel—ever St. Paul’s chief solicitude—they had been apprehensive. Rather unto the furtherance.—Not to the hindrance, as to your fears seemed likely. It is the same triumphant note which rises, in a later imprisonment, above personal indignity and suffering. “I may be bound, the message I bear is at liberty” (2 Timothy 2:9).

Philippians 1:13. Bonds in Christ are manifest.—R.V. “bonds became manifest in Christ.” It is not simply as a private prisoner that he is bound; it is matter of public note that he is bound for Christ’s sake. In all the palace.—R.V. text, “throughout the whole prætorian guard.” R.V. margin, “in the whole prætorium.” “The best supported meaning of ‘prætorium’ is—the soldiers composing the imperial regiments” (Lightfoot). “The barracks of the imperial body-guard” to whose “colonel” Paul was given in charge on his arrival in Rome (Acts 28:16)” (Meyer). “As the soldiers would relieve guard in constant succession, the prætorians one by one were brought into communication with ‘the prisoner of Jesus Christ’ ” (Lightfoot). In all other places.—The italicised places of the A.V. text must be dropped; the margin is better. A loose way of saying “to others besides the military.”

Philippians 1:14. Confident by my bonds.—The bonds might have been thought to be sufficient to intimidate the brethren; but the policy of stamping out has oftener resulted in spreading the gospel.

Philippians 1:15. Some indeed preach Christ even of envy and strife.—Not some of the brethren emboldened by the apostle’s chain, perhaps, although one sees no reason why the Judaisers would not, with redoubled energy, spread their views when he whom they so violently opposed was for the time being silenced, as they imagined. “Of envy.” Lightfoot refers to the saying of the comic poet Philemon with its play on the word, “Thou teachest me many things ungrudgingly because of a grudge” (on account of envy). The glaring in consistency of preaching a gospel of goodwill from such a motive as envy, the Worst form of ill-will, must be closely observed here.

Philippians 1:16.—These verses are transposed in R.V.; the order of the A.V. is against decisive testimony (Meyer).

Philippians 1:16. To add affliction to my bonds.—“To make my chains gall me,” Lightfoot strikingly translates. One can almost imagine St. Paul starting up, and straining at the wrist of the soldier to whom he was chained, as he hears of the intrigues of a party whose one object it was to impose an effete ritual on men called to liberty in Christ.

Philippians 1:17. For the defence of the gospel.—Many a man in the apostle’s place would have found himself absorbed by the question how best to make a good defence of himself.

Philippians 1:18. Whether in pretence, or in truth, Christ is preached.—St. Paul evidently thinks the imperfect knowledge of Christ preferable to heathen ignorance of Him. The truth is mighty enough to take care of itself, without any hand that shakes with nervous apprehension to steady its ark. St. Paul is beforehand with our method of keeping a subject before the notice of the public. The policy of “never mentioning” was what St. Paul regarded as fatal.

MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.— Philippians 1:12

The Gospel Irrepressible—

I. Notwithstanding the circumscribed opportunities of its agents.—

1. Their sufferings for the gospel call attention to its claims. ‘The things which happened unto me have fallen out rather into the furtherance of the gospel; so that my bonds in Christ are manifest in all the palace, and in all other places” (Philippians 1:12). It might seem to the Philippians that the imprisonment of Paul would be unfavourable to the gospel and prevent its spread. He shows there was no ground for that fear; but that the gospel was becoming known in quarters which, but for his imprisonment, it was not likely to gain access. The palace referred to was the prætorium, or barrack of the prætorian guards attached to the palace of Nero on the Palatine Hill in Rome. The regular changes of guards was constantly furnishing new auditors for the irrepressible preacher, and he did not fail to zealously improve his opportunities. Thus the gospel, which the malice and bigotry of the Jews sought to suppress, found its way into Cæsar’s household, and ultimately captured the Roman empire for Christ. The persecutions of the gospel have been the best helpers of its success.

2. Their sufferings for the gospel stimulate the zeal of its propagators.—“Many of the brethren, … waxing confident by my bonds, are much more bold to speak the word without fear” (Philippians 1:14). The fortitude of the apostle in suffering, and his unwearied efforts to preach the gospel, increased the courage of his fellow-helpers in the same good work. The sufferings of the gospel pioneers contributed to the spread and triumph of the truth. The blood of Scotland’s proto-martyr, the noble Patrick Hamilton, and the memory of his dying prayer, “How long, O Lord, shall darkness cover this realm?” fomented the young Reformation life over a comparatively silent germinating period of more than twenty years. Knox, and with him Scotland, kindled at the pile of George Wishart. Andrew Melville caught the falling mantle of Knox. When Richard Cameron fell at Aird’s Moss—as if in answer to his own prayers as the action began, “Lord, spare the green and take the ripe!”—all the more strenuously strove Cargill, till he too, in the following year, sealed the truth with his blood. And more followed, and yet more, through that last and worst decade of the pitiless storm known as, by emphasis, the killing time. Through those terrible years Peden dragged out a living death, and as he thought of Cameron, now at rest, often exclaimed, “Oh to be with Ritchie!” Young Renwick too caught up the torn flag, nobly saying, “They are but standard-bearers who have fallen; the Master lives.” Thus one after another on blood-stained scaffold, or on blood-soaked field, fell the precious seed-grain, to rise in harvests manifold, till just at the darkest hour before the dawn of Renwick’s martyrdom closed the red roll in 1688—the year of the revolution—and the seed so long sown in tears was reaped in joy.

II. It is preached from a variety of motives.—

1. Some preach the gospel from the love of controversy. “Some indeed preach Christ of envy and strife … of contention, not sincerely, supposing to add affliction to my bonds” (Philippians 1:15). The Judaising teachers, taking advantage of the absence of the apostle, sought to propagate their erroneous theories of the gospel, and to annoy the apostle by depreciating his authority and his preaching. They aimed not so much at winning souls for Christ, as at exalting themselves and gaining credence to their corrupt opinions. They argued that Jesus of Nazareth was the King of Israel, hoping thereby to exasperate the Roman government against Paul, who preached the same truth, though in a different sense, and to cause increased pain to the apostle by insisting upon the obligation of obedience to the law in order to salvation. Yet in opposing the gospel they stated some of its leading truths, if only to refute them. Controversy is often a waste of strength. They are small, insignificant beings who quarrel oftenest. There’s a magnificent breed of cattle in the Vale of Clwyd, the most beautiful vale in Wales. They have scarcely any horns, but abundance of meat; yet if you ascend the hills on every side, there on the heights you find a breed which grows scarcely anything but horns, and from morning to night all you hear is the constant din of clashing weapons. So there are many Christians who live on the heights, the cold and barren heights of controversy. Everything they eat grows into horns, the strength of which they are constantly testing.

2. Some preach the gospel from the highest regard for its lofty message.—“Some also of goodwill … of love, knowing that I am set [appointed of God] for the defence of the gospel” (Philippians 1:15; Philippians 1:17). An intense love of the gospel and of the Christ of the gospel is the best preparation for preaching it. Preaching to be effectual must be as various as nature. The sun warms at the same moment that it enlightens; and unless religious truth be addressed at once to the reason and to the affections, unless it kindles while it guides, it is a useless splendour, it leaves the heart barren, it produces no fruits of godliness. Preaching should help us to a higher life. A man once heard an affecting sermon, and while highly commending it was asked what he remembered of it. “Truly,” he replied, “I remember nothing at all; but it made me resolve to live better, and by God’s grace I will.”

III. The propagation of the gospel by any means is matter of fervent joy.—“What then? notwithstanding, … Christ is preached; and I therein do rejoice, yea, and will rejoice” (Philippians 1:18). The false teachers gloated over Paul’s misfortune, and thought to trouble him by their way of presenting the gospel. But the proclamation of Christ, however done, roused attention, and could not but be of service. The apostle rejoiced in the good result of their bad intentions. The success of the gospel in any place and by any means, when that success is real, is always a cause of rejoicing to the good.

Lessons.—

1. The gospel has a message for all classes.

2. Its faithful proclamation involves difficulty and suffering.

3. Its interests are often promoted from mixed motives.

GERM NOTES ON THE VERSES

Philippians 1:12. Christian Boldness.

I. Distinguish Christian boldness from its counterfeits, and set forth some of its leading attributes.—There is a false and hurtful boldness arising from—

1. Ignorance.

2. A bad judgment.

3. Native rashness.

4. The pride of courage which scorns to fear the face of man.

5. Mere natural resolution.

6. A wilful obstinacy.

7. A domineering spirit. The boldness which God approves must be chiefly drawn from other sources and possess higher and more ethereal attributes.

1. It must be bottomed on holy love—love to God and love to man.

2. It must be humble.

3. Must be delicate and regardful of all the rules of decorum.

4. Must be wise, discreet, and prudent.

5. Must be faithful.

6. Must be grounded not merely on self-denial and submission to the will of God, but on humble confidence in Him.

II. Some motives to rouse us to this holy and elevated frame and to a corresponding course of conduct.—

1. This Christian heroism is absolutely necessary to clear up the evidences of our own piety.

2. Without rising up to this heroic and active zeal we cannot be faithful to God and our generation.

3. Estimate the importance of this duty by considering what would be the effect if all professing Christians were thus intrepid and faithful.

4. In many instances fear is altogether groundless, and is the mere suggestion of indolence.

5. For want of faithful admonition and entreaty many may have perished.—E. D. Griffin.

Philippians 1:12. The Development of Events in a Consecrated Life—

I. Is the work of an over-ruling Providence.

II. Produces startling results, disappointing alike to the hopes of the enemy and the fears of friends.

III. Whatever may be its starting-point attains its end in the furtherance of the gospel.

IV. Illustrates how moral principles when tried in suffering become mightier forces in the world’s evangelisation.

V. A pledge that fellowship of suffering with Christ shall be followed by a fellowship of glory.—Lay Preacher.

Philippians 1:13. Moral Influence.

I. Paul’s moral influence exerted a mighty power under the most disadvantageous circumstances—in bonds.

II. With a very limited opportunity—one soldier daily.

III. Upon a class of mind and heart not easily impressed—the guard which had charge of him.

IV. Throughout the city—notwithstanding the restraints of his own hired house.

V. Reaching the further field by first fully cultivating the one at hand.—Ibid.

Philippians 1:14. The Ministry of Paul’s Bonds.

I. It was loyal to his Roman citizenship (Acts 26:31).

II. Christ-like, it was silent amid provocation, self-sacrificing, persuasive.

III. It was fruitful in the furtherance of the gospel.—

1. By preaching it under the shadow of Nero’s palace.

2. By intensifying the love of it and zeal for it in the hearts of the brethren.

IV. It illustrates how Christ can erect a pulpit for Himself in the very camp of the enemy, and put a voice for His glory even into chains.—Lay Preacher.

Philippians 1:15. A Spurious Ministry.

I. The elements formative of it.—

1. An imperfect apprehension of Christ’s mission.

2. A total absence of Christ’s spirit.

3. Thought and sympathy narrowed by early prejudice and preconceived ideas.

4. Christ made subservient to the doctrines, ritual, and history of a system.

II. The results inseparable from it.—

1. The cross degraded into a rallying point for party strife.

2. The basest spirit indulged under the pretence of fulfilling a sacred office.

(1) Envy—displeasure at another’s good.
(2) Strife—selfish rivalry which seeks to gain the good belonging to another.
3. Christ preached merely to advance a party.

4. Zeal for propagating a creed greater than to save a lost world.—Ibid.

Philippians 1:16. The Germ of a Spurious Ministry—

I. May exist in those who zealously preach Christ.

II. Consists in a moral contradiction between the heart of the preacher and the theme of his discourse—contentiousness and Christ.

III. Produces impurity of motive in Christian work—“not sincerely.”

IV. Biases the judgment to expect results which are never realised—“supposing.”

V. Inspires aims which are un-Christian—“to add afflictions to my bonds.”

Philippians 1:17. The Real and the Counterfeit in the Christian Ministry.

I. They correspond.—

1. Both adopt the Christian name.

2. Both utter the same shibboleth.

3. Both active in preaching Christ.

II. They differ.—

1. In heart. Contention rules the one; love reigns in the other.

2. In spirit.—Envy and strife moves the one; goodwill actuates the other.

3. In source of strength.—Love of party animates the one; waxing confident in the Lord emboldens the other.

4. In aim.—That of the one is to advance, it may be, a lifeless Church; that of the other to propel the gospel of Christ.

5. In the depth and accuracy of conviction.—The one “supposing to add affliction to my bonds”; the other “knowing that I am set for the defence of the gospel.”—Lay Preacher.