Scripture Reading: Phil. 1:1-18, 27-30; 2:1-5, 12-16; 3:2-11; 4:2-3, 14-19
In the Bible there are two books which are concerned with experience rather than with doctrine. These books are Song of Songs and Philippians. Apparently these books have no relation to each other. But if we get into the depths of these books, we shall find that they are sister books and that both are concerned with the experience of Christ. For this reason, it would be helpful to study the Song of Songs along with the book of Philippians.
We have pointed out that four New Testament books make up the heart of the divine revelation. These books are Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, and Colossians. Galatians, Ephesians, and Colossians all have a similar pattern of composition. In these books Paul first presents doctrines, then experience. After setting forth a certain doctrine, Paul encourages us to walk according to that doctrine. Ephesians, for example, is written in two main parts. The first part, chapters one through three, sets forth the doctrine regarding the church, the Body of Christ. But the second section, composed of chapters four through six, is concerned with our walk according to the doctrine unfolded in the first three chapters. Since Ephesians is composed in this way, it is a book of both doctrine and experience. In principle, the same is true of Galatians and Colossians.
The book of Philippians, however, is different in this regard. It is not Paul’s intention in writing this book to convey doctrine. This does not mean that there is no doctrinal element in this book. All the New Testament writings have a doctrinal ingredient. But strictly speaking, Philippians is not concerned with doctrine; it is concerned with the experience of Christ.
In 1:20 Paul says, “Christ shall be magnified in my body,” and in 1:21 he declares, “To me to live is Christ.” These two statements represent the basic concept of the whole book. In this book we are charged to magnify Christ and to live Him. To magnify Christ is not only to express Him; it is to express Christ by causing Him to be enlarged. We should magnify Christ by living Him in a practical way day by day. Our daily living should be a living that lives Christ. Certain ethical teachings encourage people to live by particular virtues. The book of Philippians, however, does not charge us to live according to ethics or virtues; it charges us to live according to Christ. Christ must be everything in our daily living. He must be even such virtues as humility and kindness.
Before Paul was saved, his life was centered around the law, and he lived the law. But after he was converted to Christ and was regenerated, he began to live Christ. Christ became not only Paul’s life, but also his living. Eventually, according to his experience, Paul could declare that to him to live was Christ.
In this message we shall consider the background and subject of Philippians. Every book in the Bible has both a background and a subject. Since the book of Philippians is concerned with the experience of Christ, some may think that there is no need to consider the background. However, even this book on the experience of Christ was written with a certain kind of background. This background is the reason the book was written. In order to get into the depths of the significance of this book, we must know its background.
The book of Philippians does not say explicitly what the background is. But as we consider Paul’s statements and exhortations in this book, we detect certain hints regarding the background. If we read the four chapters of this book carefully, we shall find four elements related to the background.
At the time the book of Philippians was written, the Judaizers were exercising their influence over the believers in Christ (3:2-4). The Judaizers were very strong for the Jewish religion. They not only practiced their religion, but they promoted it and even fought for it. The most zealous of the Judaizers were the Pharisees, those who were most orthodox in the religion of their fathers. As a result of the Jewish dispersion, these Judaizers were spread over the Mediterranean region. Wherever Jews were found, there would always be some Judaizers. No other group of people could match the zeal with which the Judaizers promoted their religion. Even in Philippi, a city in Macedonia, they were exercising their influence over the believers.
In 3:1 Paul says, “For the rest, my brothers, rejoice in the Lord. To write the same things to you, to me indeed is not irksome, and for you it is safe.” This word indicates that to rejoice in the Lord is a safeguard, a security. When we rejoice in Him, we are safe. Rejoicing protects us.
When Paul wrote the book of Philippians, certain believers in Philippi were not rejoicing in the Lord, for they were being troubled or distracted by those described in verse 2. In this verse Paul says, “Beware of the dogs, beware of the evil workers, beware of the concision.” On the one hand, Paul tells us to rejoice; on the other hand, he tells us to beware of the dogs. As we shall see, the “dogs” here refer to the Judaizers.
Today there are also “dogs” of which we need to beware. In fact, in Paul’s time there was just one group of “dogs,” the Judaizers, but today there are many different kinds of “dogs.” Whenever these “dogs” exercise their influence, perhaps by spreading evil rumors about the Lord’s recovery, we may find it difficult to rejoice. Thus, we need Paul’s exhortation to rejoice and to beware of “dogs.” According to the construction of 3:2, the dogs, the evil workers, and the concision all refer to the same people. The fact that the “dogs” are associated with the evil workers and the concision indicates that the “dogs” are religious people. The evil workers mentioned here were not thieves. They were those who advocated circumcision. But as they zealously promoted circumcision, they were like barking dogs. For this reason, Paul uses the terms evil workers and the concision, as expressions of extreme contempt. As religious “dogs,” the Judaizers were not only barking ones, but also biting ones. Wherever the gospel was preached and churches were established, the Judaizers came as barking, biting, religious “dogs” to trouble the saints. The barking and biting of the Judaizers was one aspect of the background against which the book of Philippians was written.
Today there are a number of different groups of barking religious “dogs.” Wherever we may go, we are troubled by the different religious parties. In principle, our situation is the same as that of the Philippians when Paul wrote to them. Like the believers at Philippi, we urgently need the experience of Christ. If the Philippians were in need of the experience of Christ because of their background, how much more do we need to experience Him because of the situation in which we find ourselves today! The Philippians had to deal with only one ism, but we must deal with many isms, with many groups of barking religious “dogs.” When we rise up to speak concerning the experience of Christ, these “dogs” come to bark and to bite. The writings of the opposers, in which many false accusations are made against us, may be regarded as the “barking” of religious “dogs.”
Because of the influence the Judaizers were exerting over the saints, Paul was compelled to warn the saints at Philippi to beware of “dogs.” It was not easy for him to utter such a word, for these barking “dogs” were his countrymen. Paul was very patriotic, and he had a deep love for the Jewish nation. This made it difficult for him to refer to certain of his countrymen as “dogs.” But the situation forced him to use such a strong expression. Even though the Judaizers were among Paul’s countrymen, his kinsmen according to the flesh, he could not refrain from calling them “dogs,” “evil workers,” “the concision.” The influence of these “dogs” was an important part of the background of the book of Philippians. Since, in principle, our situation is the same today, we must consider that Philippians was written for us also. In their situation, the Philippian believers needed the experience of Christ, and in our situation today we need all the more to experience Him.
According to 1:15-18, some were preaching Christ “because of envy and strife” and “out of rivalry.” In particular, they were in rivalry with Paul. Those who preached Christ in this way were the Judaistic believers, believers in Christ who held to the Jewish religion and who were bringing certain aspects of Judaism into the church life. Their holding on to the things of Judaism caused them to preach Christ in rivalry with Paul, who renounced Judaism with its law, rituals, traditions, and practice of circumcision. Since the Judaistic believers still held to these religious things, they were preaching Christ out of envy and strife. Nevertheless in 1:18 Paul could say, “What then? Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is announced, and in this I rejoice, yes, and I will rejoice.” Paul admitted that even those who preached because of envy and strife and out of rivalry were still preaching Christ. He could rejoice in the fact that Christ was announced. Whereas Paul preached Christ with God’s economy, others preached Christ with Judaism. Thus, there were two different ways of preaching Christ.
The same is true today. Many Christians are preaching Christ, but they are not preaching Christ with God’s economy concerning the church. In Paul’s time, the Judaistic believers preached Christ out of a concern for Judaism, not out of a concern for the church. In a sense, they even preached Christ for Judaism. Paul, however, preached Christ for the church, the Body of Christ.
Paul was persecuted not mainly for simply preaching the gospel, but in particular for defending the gospel and confirming it. In 1:7 he speaks of “the defense and confirmation of the gospel” and in 1:16 he says that he was “set for the defense of the gospel.” The Judaistic believers, on the contrary, were perverting the gospel and distorting it. The gospel is not for Judaism, and it should not be preached for the purpose of bringing unbelievers under the law and to the practice of circumcision. To preach the gospel in this way is a perversion and distortion of the gospel. In his defense of the gospel, Paul made it clear that the goal of the gospel is to bring forth the Body of Christ, not to cause anyone to bear the mark of circumcision. As Paul preached the gospel in a positive, divine way, he also defended it and confirmed it. Paul’s way of preaching the gospel was very different from that of the Judaistic believers. Therefore, at the time the book of Philippians was written, the gospel was preached in two different ways.
Today we are also preaching the gospel in a way that is different from that followed by many in organized religion. Many are preaching the gospel, but not in the way that is in line with God’s economy. Whenever we preach the gospel according to God’s economy, as Paul did, we are opposed by the religionists. Because of the different ways of preaching Christ, persecution comes from the religious “dogs.”
Another aspect of the background of this book concerns a matter that is very positive, the participation of the Philippian believers with the apostle Paul in the furtherance of the gospel (1:5-7; 4:14-19).
I am concerned that some among us still hold to an understanding of the gospel which is not adequate. The preaching of the gospel includes more than the fact that Christ is our Savior and that by believing in Him we shall have forgiveness of sins, salvation from hell to heaven, and regeneration. Actually, the whole book of Philippians is a definition of the gospel. The gospel is the proclamation of the move of God on earth according to His economy. This means that the gospel is the preaching of God’s economy. Thus, the gospel includes the matter of magnifying Christ and living Christ. It includes every aspect of the experience of Christ covered in this book. For the Philippian believers to participate with Paul in the furtherance of the gospel meant that they were partaking in the move of God’s economy on earth.
God’s economy is not simply to have a group of people who are forgiven of their sins, justified, washed by the blood of Christ, regenerated, saved from hell, and destined for heaven. Such things are just part of God’s salvation for the carrying out of His economy. The gospel includes the economy of God in its entirety. We should not try to define the gospel by taking a few phrases from Paul’s writings out of context. We need to consider the whole book of Philippians with all the major points. If we put these points together, we shall have the totality of the gospel, and we shall see that the gospel involves God’s move according to His economy. How blessed were the Philippian believers to participate in the furtherance of such a gospel! The gospel in which they had a share was not the low, narrow, superficial gospel preached by many Christians today. The Philippian believers had the privilege of sharing in the spread and furtherance of the gospel that is according to God’s economy.
Even though the Philippian believers participated with Paul in the furtherance of the gospel, there was still at least some amount of dissension among them (1:27; 2:1-4; 4:2-3). As we shall see, the reason for this dissension lay in the fact that they were not one in soul. They had been regenerated in the spirit, but they had not yet been transformed in soul. They had no problem in the spirit, but there were at least some problems in the soul, particularly in the mind. Some among them had different concepts, and these different concepts were causing dissension.
As we have already indicated, the subject of Philippians is the experience of Christ. Concerning the experience of Christ, each chapter of Philippians covers a major point. First in chapter one we have the magnification of Christ. No matter what the circumstances are in which we find ourselves, we need to express Christ in such a way that we magnify Him.
In chapter two Paul presents Christ as our pattern. In everything we do, we need a pattern, a model, an example. Even in the experience of Christ and the enjoyment of Christ, we need a pattern. This pattern is Christ Himself.
Chapter three indicates that Christ should be our goal, our aim. We who love the Lord and seek Him are not aimless. Our aim is Christ Himself. He is the goal toward which we press.
Finally, in chapter four, Christ is our strength. In 4:13 Paul says, “I can do all things in Him who empowers me.” Christ is not only the pattern and the goal; He is also the strength, the power, the dynamo. As the dynamo within us, He empowers us to live Him, to magnify Him, and to press on toward Him as the goal.
In the four chapters of Philippians we see Christ as the One lived out and magnified, Christ as the pattern, Christ as the goal, and Christ as our inward strength. This book on the experience of Christ covers four major points: the expression, the pattern, the goal, and the strength. We all need to experience Christ in this fourfold way.
It was necessary for the Philippians to experience Christ in order to overcome the influence of the Judaizers. We also need to experience Christ if we would overcome the opposition we face today. We cannot overcome the “barking” of religious “dogs” by anything we have in ourselves. The opposition is too severe to be overcome by our own efforts. For this, we need the adequate experience of Christ. We need to experience Christ in such a way that we live Him, and take Him as our pattern, goal and power. Such an experience of Christ will enable us to overcome all opposition.
The more we are opposed, the more we should live Christ. We should be like a ball full of air: the more we are suppressed, the higher we rise up. In a sense, we should be thankful for all the opposition. Because of it, we are being stirred up. However, it is not sufficient merely to be awakened and stirred up to stand against the opposition; we must go on to live Christ and to magnify Him. As we experience Christ, we shall overcome the negative influence of today’s religionists.
Through the experience of Christ, we shall also acquire discernment concerning the different ways of preaching Christ, in particular concerning the preaching of Christ in rivalry (1:9-11). The more we experience Christ, the more discernment we shall have. In fact, Christ Himself will become our discernment, our sensitive perception, our moral tact. By experiencing Christ we become sensitive and tactful. Such tact is neither natural nor that gained by education. It comes only through the experience of Christ. As we experience Christ, He becomes our perception and tact, the discernment by which we see through the intentions of others. With Christ as our x-ray, no one can hide from our perception. We all need such discernment.
We also need to experience Christ so that we may participate in the furtherance of the gospel (1:27-30). Through the experience of Christ, we are able to share in God’s move in His economy.
Finally, the experience of Christ is for the abolishing of dissension (2:5, 12-16). Dissension can be abolished only through the experience of Christ. The more experience of Christ we have, the less dissension there will be.
