After Paul left Philippi, he went to Thessalonica (Acts 16-17). While he was there, no churches gave money to him except for Philippi who gave to him more than once. He rejoices in the Lord because of their generosity (Phil. 4:10), and he points out that their concern for him was “revived”.

Paul takes this opportunity to show us how we are to be content in all circumstances. Both in poverty and in prosperity, he is content. The reason that he is content is because he “can do all things through Him who strengthens.” This phrase is often used in a spiritual way, but in context it is referring to financial support. Paul doesn’t seek the gift, but he seeks the profit that the Philippians receive by giving to him (4:17). Their gift is a pleasing aroma to God.

In verse 19, he says that God will supply for all of their needs. We can be confident that God will provide for our financial needs and care for us even if we go hungry or are in need. This is a glorious promise. This isn’t a promise of financial prosperity, but of God’s continual care for us.

In Romans, Paul writes, “And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect” (Rom. 12:2). There is a power in the mind that we don’t really understand. I believe it is like the rudder of the ship, in that it directs the way and direction of our life. Thinking about things that are false, impure, and dark will only lead to an increase of impurity and darkness in our life. In many ways, dwelling on something is the same thing as beholding it. What we behold or focus is, we end up becoming (2 Cor. 3:18).

Paul exhorts them to practice those things that Paul has taught them and has shown them by example. If they do, the peace of God will be with them. The peace of God is only experienced by those who draw near to Him through holiness. It is interesting that verse 7 says that the peace of God will guard our minds. But verses 8-9 show that obedience and holy thought brings us into the peace of God. By practicing holiness, His grace is extended towards us in order to walk in a greater level of obedience and purity of thought.

Now he exhorts them to stand firm as they are his “joy and crown” (4:1). “For who is our hope or joy or crown of exultation? Is it not even you, in the presence of our Lord Jesus at His coming?” (1 Thess. 2:19). It is interesting how Paul exhorts them in order that his account will increase, sort of speak (cf. 2:14-18). In the 1 Thessalonians passage, Paul gives the impression that the completion of the saints salvation will be a reward for Paul. It seems that Paul believed that he will be rewarded at the judgment seat.

Verse 2 is a command to Euodia and Syntyche to live in harmony with each other. Evidently, they were not getting along which may have been the cause for his command in 2:1-11 to live in unity with one another.

He continues by encouraging them to rejoice in the Lord always. He encourages them to pray and give thanksgiving for all of their needs. It is an important thing to have a thankful heart while we are asking God to meet our needs. It is hard to remember that He owes us nothing and that we are to be grateful for all of the good things that He has given us. But this thankfulness unlocks our heart to remember that He is a Father and He loves to give good gifts.

What is this “pattern” that they have in him? Paul has been encouraging them to have an attitude of humility and obedience to Christ (2:5-11). He has shared how he has been filled with joy and rejoicing in the midst of suffering and persecution. He has demonstrated that his goal in life is to know Christ and complete the journey so that he will enter into the glory of the resurrection. His pattern of living is a focus on Christ, on the hope of eternity, and to have an attitude of humility towards one another.

In verses 18-21, Paul contrasts the lifestyle of the unbeliever versus the lifestyle of the believer, and the destination of these two people. The unbeliever focusses on the things of this earth and their present needs. They are enemies of the cross of Christ because they scoff at the notion that they need forgiveness for sins or that their is a coming judgment. They see the cross as foolishness.

But we as believers are citizens of heaven who “eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.” Our lives are not rooted in this age, nor do we find fulfillment in this age. We understand that our present “humble state” is not our end but is the necessary prerequisite to the glory of our resurrection. Following the pattern of Paul, though the world calls it foolish (1 Cor. 1-2), is our hope because Christ will come to glorify those who have humbled themselves and embraced the power of the cross.

Verse 13 says, “forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press on…”. There is a time when it is good to remember God’s goodness in the past, or lessons learned in the past, to encourage and help us in the journey towards the future. But I think what Paul is getting at is the forgetting of past failures that discourage us. As believers, we can take confidence in the power of the blood to cleanse of our sins, which qualifies us as we continue our journey towards the resurrection. Oftentimes, I will dwell on my mistakes in the past and I become discouraged thinking that I won’t make it because my next mistake will be too big. But Paul knew the power of Christ’s resurrection and His power that had laid hold of him and he continued to press on in hope.

Paul exhorts the Philippians to have the same attitude of forward thinking that he had. God will help us to change our attitudes so that we have a hope-filled vision of the future. Then he says, “however, let us keep living by that same standard to which we have attained.” Christians are not supposed to regress in their walk with Him. We can have days or even a week where we feel discouraged, but that should only help to propel us forward as we get back up and keep going. The hope of the resurrection requires a constant and steady walk with the Lord.

I want to look at the connection between verse 10 where he desires to be “conformed to His death”, and verse 11 where he reaches for the resurrection. In 1 Corinthians 15, Paul’s discourse on the resurrection, he says, “That which you sow does not come to life unless it dies.” John calls Jesus “the firstborn from the dead” (Rev. 1:5). The lesson to us is that life only comes through death. When I say “life”, I mean the resurrection life that is the privilege of the saints. The roadway to this type of eternal life and uninterrupted communion with the Trinity is to die to yourself. Being conformed to His death is to walk the way of the cross, which was humility and sacrifice. We can only enter into glory through the death to self (Phil. 2:5-11).

Paul says that he has not obtained the resurrection from the dead, or become perfect. For Paul, the finish line was not in the middle of the race, but it was really actually at the end. He is saying that we have to run the whole race to claim our prize. So he presses on and keeps going so that he can lay hold of something.

What is that something? “That for which also I was laid hold of by Christ Jesus.” This is important. You see, Paul is pressing on towards eternity and the resurrection, but he is not the only one who is pressing. Christ Jesus is pressing towards Paul more than Paul is Christ, and this is his victory and assurance. Christ has called us into this glorious promise of resurrection life, and our response is to follow Him. Our job is to press and His job is to finish and perfect us (Heb. 12:2). Oh, this is wonderful news! Another skip for me!

“that I may know Him” — This kind of knowing is not a head knowledge of who God is, but it is a personal experience of who He is. Paul is seeking to enter into deeper fellowship with Him and know Him as a friend and as his Lord.

“the power of His resurrection” — Paul is seeking to have the life giving power that raised Christ from the dead. This is not a gift of power to heal, although that is good, but it is the power and life that is given to us through the cross to put on the new man after having died to the old man (Rom. 6:1-11). This is power for righteousness.

“the fellowship of His sufferings” — Paul understands that suffering by itself is not a good, but how suffering helps us to turn to God is redemptive and good. He wants to meet Jesus as he is bound in chains because he considers suffering as an indication that his life is hostile to the powers of darkness (Acts 5:41).

“being conformed to His death” — Jesus commanded us to pick up our cross and follow Him. We cannot save ourselves by picking up our cross, but the cross is the daily choices we must make to walk in the power of the new man and lay aside the old man (Eph. 4:22-24).

“that I may attain to the resurrection from the dead” – I believe that this verse is speaking of Paul’s continual journey to finish his life as a believer. Some may say that there is a resurrection before the Millennium for the “elite”, or that Paul is referring to a certain “level” of resurrection, but I think he is referring to the general resurrection of all saints when Jesus returns. That Paul is working to attain this resurrection says something about his ideas of salvation and our need to continually press towards heaven. The lesson is that darkness is great and is tryng to ensnare us.

Verses 7-14 are dynamic and some of Paul’s richest journal of godly devotion. Paul is looking back at his former life as a Pharisee, one who studied the Law and taught it, and he sees that all of his good works were nothing compared to life in Christ. Everything he thought was good, he now knows is nothing and worthless. This is our testimony as Christians. The things of the world are empty and worthless compared to our life in Christ now.

But the remarkable thing about this passage is that Paul keeps looking forward as if he still hasn’t found what he’s looking for. He presently counts all things as worthless “in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord” (v. 8). He is still reaching forward to know Christ and still takes account of the worthless things that he rejects. Verse 9 is outstanding because it is a classic verse that indicates that we are saved by the faith, but Paul is still seeking to be found in Christ’s righteousness. He is still pressing on for the justification that comes through faith. I believe that this is a critical verse to show that salvation is a process and it is not binding. However, I don’t believe that we are in the loose grip of God and we can lose it at any time. I just think that it shows that Paul had a high view of salvation and, more importantly, the resurrection.

The people that Paul warns against are referred to as “dogs”, “evil workers”, and the “false circumcision”. The term “dogs” was used by Jesus to refer to those who oppose God’s truth (Matt. 7:6), and by the Jews as a name of contempt for the Gentiles (Matt. 15:26-27). Paul reverses the meaning of the name for the Jews and calls them the “dogs” because they were saying that Christians needed to be circumcised according to the Jewish Law before becoming a part of the church. “By trying to make Gentiles ‘clean’ through circumcision, the Judaizers are unclean ‘dogs’” (Constable 40). It was a “false circumcision” because they were viewing circumcision as a work that achieved justification.

In verse 3, Paul tells us that we are the “true circumcision” by evidence of three characteristics. First, we “worship in the Spirit of God”. This echos Jesus’ words to the woman by the well when He said, “God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth” (Jn. 4:24). We do not worship through regulations and sacrifices, but through the Spirit of God. Second, we “glory in Christ Jesus”. Our access to the Father and our mode of justification is through faith in Christ Jesus. And third, we “put no confidence in the flesh”. Our trust in Christ Jesus for justification and salvation means that we do not trust in ourselves and our own works.

Finally, in verses 4-6, Paul shows how he has tried to be perfect in the Law and achieve justification through his own works. He attempted it in his own strength, and it left him nowhere. We are to be warned against any kind of teaching that places an emphasis on salvation through works.

Epaphroditus was someone who they sent to Paul as a “minister of my need”. Sensing that Paul would need someone to help take care of him while in prison, they sent this man to him and he became a great brother and “fellow worker” to Paul. But Epaphroditus has become homesick and wanted to see his friends in Philippi. He had become very sick and almost died. Two things are interesting about this:

First, he came to the point of death before he became better. Paul doesn’t say how he was healed, but even Paul’s prayers were not effective in his healing until he almost died. This is a lesson to never give up in prayer, but it is also an indication of the mystery of healing. David Pawson says that healing in the New Testament is almost always linked with evangelism. In other words, healing is not guaranteed for the believer. Healing is for the vindication of the gospel to unbelievers.

Second, Paul mentions that God had mercy on him because he would have become extremely sorrowful. This is a picture of the depth of love and fellowship that Paul had with those whom he ministered with.

Paul exhorts the Philippians to esteem Epaphroditus because he is a man who’s committment to the gospel almost cost him his life. He selflessly served Paul, the Philippians, and the gospel.