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Scripture Reading: Phil. 4:5-8
Philippians 4:5-6 says, “Let your forbearance be known to all men. The Lord is near. In nothing be anxious, but in everything, by prayer and petition with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God.” Prayer is general with the essence of worship and fellowship; petition is special for particular needs. Both our prayer and petition should be accompanied by thanksgiving to the Lord. The English preposition to in the phrase to God is the Greek preposition pros. This preposition is often translated “with” (John 1:1; Mark 9:19; Matt. 26:55; 2 Cor. 5:8; 1 Cor. 16:6; 1 John 1:2). It denotes motion towards, in the sense of a living union and communion; thus, it implies fellowship. Hence, the meaning of to God here is “in fellowship with God.” John 1:1 uses the preposition pros in the phrase the Word was with [pros] God. Such a word conveys the thought of traffic, something going back and forth. It denotes motion toward some object, which produces a transaction in the sense of a living union. Based upon this union, there is communion, which is a communication or fellowship.
Whenever we pray, making our petition in the proper way, there should be some traffic between us and God. Something from us should move toward God, causing God to respond to us. This moving back and forth is fellowship. This is the proper meaning of the word fellowship. Fellowship is actually the dispensing of God for man to receive. The fellowship we have with God, on God’s side, is His dispensing and, on our side, is our receiving. He dispenses, and we receive. The more fellowship we have, the more we receive of God through His dispensing.
When we are short of something, we may become anxious. We should not bear this anxiety by ourselves. We should let God know, by making our requests known to Him, by prayer and petition with thanksgiving. This is the kind of prayer we should have. We do not need to pray in the way of begging God to do things for us. We should just tell Him what we need; that is, we should let Him know, not keeping anything within ourselves. If we have any worry or anxiety, we should just tell Him. Our letting Him know is our motion toward Him. Then His response is His dispensing, His mingling of Himself with us, even before He answers our request. This mingling of divinity with humanity is the mingling of two entities, the divine entity and the human entity.
Philippians 4:6 is apparently a very simple verse since it exhorts us not to worry and to let God know our requests. However, the reality that this word reveals is not so simple or shallow. Electricity also is apparently very simple. If you need heat or light, you just push a button, and you get heat or light. If you want cold air, you just push another button. The application of electricity is very simple, but the science of electricity is not so simple. If electricity were dispensed into you without limit, you would die of its electrical current. The higher the current of electricity is, the quicker you would die. But with the “divine electricity,” the divine dispensing, the more God you receive, the more you live. On the one hand, as you receive this divine electricity, the old man dies, but on the other hand, the new man lives. The divine dispensing is also a science, and the study of the divine dispensing can never be exhausted.
Philippians 4:5-8 forms one section in which the first item touched is forbearance. The content of forbearance includes all the human virtues mentioned in verse 8. Forbearance is the sum total of our human virtues. Forbearance is the top virtue because it is all-inclusive. Eventually, forbearance is just Christ Himself.
In verse 5 we are encouraged to express Christ as our forbearance. But the thing that opposes forbearance is our anxiety (v. 6). Anxiety is versus forbearance. If you live Christ, the character of your expression will be forbearance. But if you are a person who is full of anxiety, the character of your expression will be worry. Our anxiety can be turned into forbearance by bringing every need, every request, to God (v. 6) and by conversing with Him. To converse implies a kind of traffic back and forth. Every morning, regardless of how busy we are, we need such traffic between us and God. This kind of traffic brings in the divine dispensing, reduces our anxiety, and builds up our forbearance. It is by this traffic, the fellowship between us and God, that we enjoy the divine dispensing.
When you are full of forbearance, it will be difficult for you to lose your temper or to condemn or criticize others. You also will not appraise people too highly. You will be fitting in every way. As a guest in someone’s home, you may be served tea. If you are a person full of forbearance, whether the tea is hot, cold, or lukewarm, you will not express anything. It should also be the same in the church life. If you are a person full of forbearance, the church life may be full of turmoil, but to your feeling of forbearance, the church life is wonderful. This feeling may seem contrary to the facts, but according to your sense of forbearance, the church is really wonderful. The church is always wonderful according to its nature, but sometimes according to its condition, it may not be so wonderful. Regardless of its condition, we should always go along with the church according to its nature. Your father is your father by birth, not by his condition. At times his condition may not be so good, but he is still your father.
Forbearance is to be very moderate and very natural, neither too hot nor too cold. With forbearance we are able to go along with any person, regardless of their temperament or disposition. If, however, we move and act only according to our own likes and dislikes, we do not have a life of forbearance. When we have learned the lessons in the divine life, we can easily be with another person in their situation without any complaints. If they walk fast, we will walk fast. If they walk slowly, we will walk slowly. If they stop, we will stop. If they sit down, we will sit down. Forbearance is a real test to the kind of life we are living. Many times, for example, the wife cannot sit in the car while her husband is driving without complaining about his driving. It is very difficult for the wife to forbear while her husband drives.
A virtue mentioned in Philippians 4:8 is “dignified.” Dignified means “venerable, worthy of reverence, noble, grave.” With God in His divinity, it is a matter of His glory, but with us in our humanity, it is a matter of honor or dignity. When Christ ascended to the heavens, He was crowned with both glory and honor (Heb. 2:7) because He is a person who is both divine and human. In His divinity He received glory, and in His humanity He received honor and dignity.
Philippians 4:8 ends with the two matters of virtue and praise. Virtue is toward us, and praise is toward God. The eight items mentioned in verse 8 are divided into two categories. The first six items are categorized as “what things are”; the last two, virtue and praise, are categorized as “if there is any.” This indicates that the last two are a summing up of the six foregoing items, in all of which are some virtue or excellence and something worthy of praise. The first six items of truthfulness, dignity, rightness, purity, loveliness, and being well spoken of are human virtues summed up by the phrase if there is any virtue. If any praise sums up the entire verse including all the foregoing items. Praise refers to the expression of God. Praise means that God is expressed to such an extent that others praise God. The expression of God causes others to praise God. Virtue and praise indicate that humanity with its virtues expresses God. These seven items in Philippians 4:8 eventually consummate in praise.
In writing these words, the apostle Paul must have had a great deal of consideration. Out of hundreds of human virtues, Paul selected only six. Then as a conclusion, he used only the two items of virtue and praise. Virtue sums up the six foregoing items, and praise concludes the entire section. When our human virtues express God’s divine attributes, praise is offered to God. This is exactly the same thought as that in Matthew 5:16. When others see our good works (human virtues), they glorify (praise) our Father who is in the heavens. The Christian life is a life that always expresses God in human virtues. As a result, such a life always brings glory and praise to God.
The way to live a life that is full of virtues expressing God and bringing glory and praise to God is in Christ, the One who empowers us (Phil. 4:13). The Chinese ethical scholars taught concerning the development of human virtues. But the development of human virtues taught by them could never produce any glory and praise to God. When we love and honor our parents, our love and honor must be different from the human honor taught by the Chinese ethical scholars. Their honor does not have the taste or flavor of anything divine. Our honor to our parents should be full of humanity, and it should also have the flavor of divinity within it. This flavor and taste of God is the difference between the unbeliever’s honor and the believer’s honor. The Christian’s honor has the smell and flavor of the divine attributes. In our experience quite often our honor seems to lack this quality of divinity. This is because we fail to live Christ. If we do not live Christ, we may still honor our parents, but this honor will have no divine flavor. Therefore, we need to grow in the divine life and live Christ. Then the honor toward our parents will have the divine flavor.
When the Western missionaries went to China, the Chinese scholars asked why they should become Christians when their own teaching concerning honor was stronger than the teaching of honor in the Bible. Many of the missionaries may not have known what or how to answer them. Today, however, we have the answer. Regardless of how high the Chinese ethical teaching of honor may be, it still does not have anything divine in it. Though the Christian honor may seem to be a little lower than that of the Chinese scholars, in reality the proper Christian honor is much higher because it has the divine flavor.
In the societies of the Western world the matter of loving our neighbor is highly appreciated. Even atheists may talk about loving others. Some wealthy men have given their wealth to hospitals or other charitable causes. They may love others by donating their wealth to hospitals or schools, but there is no flavor of God in their giving. Rather, the flavor is one of vainglory. This is because whoever donated the money for the hospital may receive some recognition of his donation by a memorial stone commemorating his gift. This kind of love is void of the flavor and taste of God. Yet a brother who does not have much money may show his love by giving a needy saint most of his savings without anyone’s knowledge. This kind of love bears the flavor of God, and it is different from mere human love. The difference is in the nature and source of the love. To have the love that has the flavor of God depends upon the person who does it, not on what you do. If you do it in yourself, there is no flavor of God. But if you do it through God and God does it through you, there is much flavor of God.
Philippians 4:8 begins with truthfulness and ends with praise. The Christian life is a life full of human virtues that produce glory and praise to God. Verses 5 through 8 show us that the proper Christian life is a life of the mingling of divinity with humanity.
Genesis 1:26 is one of the most significant verses in the entire Bible, especially in the Old Testament. After God created the heavens and the earth, He said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness.” Let us indicates that there was a conversation among the Divine Trinity — the Father, the Son, and the Spirit — concerning the creation of man. This verse conveys a great mystery. The booklet The Mystery of Human Life stresses the mystery in Genesis 1:26 very much. The mystery of human life is that man is made in the image of God and according to His likeness. Image denotes what God is, and likenes s denotes a kind of form.
Man was made in the image of what God is. God in His nature is Spirit (John 4:24), whereas God in His image is love, light, holiness, and righteousness. A gold ring in nature is gold, but in its image it is a ring. God being Spirit refers to His nature, and God being love, light, holiness, and righteousness refers to His image.
In the Old Testament the Ten Commandments are a portrait of what God is, a portrait of the One who gave the law. The laws used in most of human society today are based upon Roman law. Roman law is primarily based upon the Ten Commandments. The elements that constitute the Ten Commandments are love, light, holiness, and righteousness. These four elements are the attributes of God’s image. God in His image is love, light, holiness, and righteousness. Therefore, when God made man in His image, God made man in love, in light, in holiness, and in righteousness. Human beings, whether Christians or non-Christians, have the character of love, light, holiness, and righteousness. No one likes to be in darkness; everyone likes to be in the light. No one likes to be so common; everyone likes to be different or unique. No one likes to be wrong; everyone likes to be right. Animals do not have this kind of character, but we human beings do.
Through Adam’s fall these items of our human character were spoiled by the evil one when he entered into us. Because of this there is often a battle within us. On the one hand, we love our parents, but when we lose our temper, we may become angry with them. This is the battle. We like to be honest, but often, when certain circumstances are present, we may lie. Although at times we win the battle, often we are not strong enough in our fallen nature to stand against the negative elements. In Romans 7:19-20 Paul says, “I do not do the good which I will; but the evil which I do not will, this I practice. But if what I do not will, this I do, it is no longer I that work it out but sin that dwells in me.” Sin is personified, taking action like a person within us.
Through God’s salvation we were put into God, and God also entered into us. Now within us there is a mingling of divinity with humanity. A glove with a hand as its content is one with the hand. The hand and the glove have become one entity. The hand is inside of the glove, and the glove is outside of the hand. The glove expresses the hand, and the hand strengthens and empowers the glove, making the glove so real. This is the Christian life. As Christians, we must remember that we are complicated people. We are people who have been mingled with the divine person, making us one spirit with the Lord (1 Cor. 6:17). Although it is true to say that Christ is our content and we are His expression, our relationship with Christ is even deeper and higher than this. We have been mingled together with Christ. This is like grafting, in which a branch of one tree grows and lives together with another tree (Rom. 11:24).
The Christian life is the mingling of divinity with humanity. When we love, we must love by our love with God’s love as its content and reality. Apparently, it is only human love; actually, it is the divine love. It is not only the divine love as the content with the human love as its appearance but also the divine love mingled with the human love so that these two loves become one love. Thus, it is hard to say whether it is the human love or the divine love. In Philippians 4:8 the human love is contained in the six items of truthfulness, dignity, righteousness, purity, loveliness, and being well spoken of, and the divine love is expressed in the last item, praise.
The practical mingling of divinity with humanity is carried out by the traffic described in verse 6. We must come to God by prayer often. This is the reason that the New Testament tells us to pray unceasingly (1 Thes. 5:17). To pray is to breathe God in. To pray is also to have traffic between us and God. This two-way traffic is our union, communion, and fellowship. The current of electricity is its traffic, communion, or fellowship. Without the current of electricity we could not enjoy the operation of electrical appliances, such as lights. It is the same between us and God. Within us there must always be traffic, a current, between us and God. When we stop praying, the traffic stops. Then whatever we do is something in ourselves without God. When we pray unceasingly, keeping ourselves in the current, the fellowship, the communion, the traffic, we enjoy the mingling of divinity with humanity. Then as we exercise our love, we express God’s love. Our love is our virtue mingled with God’s love, God’s attribute. We then become a mingled entity, a God-man, having divinity mingled with our humanity.
