A Two-Fold Grace (Philippians #4)

INTRODUCTION

The great Augustine once said that in the affairs of men, the dead are replaced by the dying. Isaac Watts memorably rendered Psalm 90 this way: “Time, like an ever-rolling stream/Bears all its sons away;/They fly forgotten, as a dream/Dies at the opening day.” “So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom” (Psalm 90:12).

But there is more to this wisdom than simply recognizing how fleeting our lives are. We need something to compare it to, and that something is one in the order of Melchizedek, with the power of an indestructible life (Heb. 7:16). Without the baseline of eternal life, our earthly lives are not even fleeting.

THE TEXT

“For I know that this shall turn to my salvation through your prayer, and the supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ, according to my earnest expectation and my hope, that in nothing I shall be ashamed, but that with all boldness, as always, so now also Christ shall be magnified in my body, whether it be by life, or by death. For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. But if I live in the flesh, this is the fruit of my labour: yet what I shall choose I wot not. For I am in a strait betwixt two, having a desire to depart, and to be with Christ; which is far better: Nevertheless to abide in the flesh is more needful for you. And having this confidence, I know that I shall abide and continue with you all for your furtherance and joy of faith; That your rejoicing may be more abundant in Jesus Christ for me by my coming to you again” (Philippians 1:19–26).

SUMMARY OF THE TEXT

The mere fact of the preaching of Christ, whether from good motives or bad, is going to redound to Paul’s salvation. This will happen through their prayers, and the supply of the Spirit of Christ (v. 19). Whatever happens, Paul’s intense expectation and hope is that he will be bold and not ashamed, whatever happens to his body. That body may live or it may die, but may Christ be magnified either way (v. 20). He then sums it up this way—to live is Christ, and to die is gain. Put another way, to live is Christ, to die is more Christ (v. 21). If he continues to live, that is why he is working so hard—it is what his labor is all about (v. 22). But he doesn’t know what he would choose if it were up to him. One of the reasons for being familiar with the King James is that it makes you acquainted with great phrases like I wot not, which means “I cannot tell.” How else would you learn that? Paul is torn between two options. To depart and be with Christ would be far better for Paul (v. 23), but to remain would be the greater blessing for the Philippians (v. 24). Paul is confident of the short-term outlook because that is what the Philippians need for their edification in joy (v. 25), which would be an abundant joy when Paul is restored to them again (v. 26). And it is likely that Paul was released for a time—he was executed in his second Roman imprisonment.

CONVEYER BELT OF TIME

Everyone in this room is in the process of dying. It unlikely that we will all die in the same instant, but it is more than likely that we will all die. Unless the Lord comes, we are all of us headed in that direction at 60 seconds per minute, 60 minutes per hour, 24 hours per day, and 365 days per year. We have no access to a switch that can turn this conveyor belt off. Given this inexorable reality, you would think that we would spend a little more thought regarding our preparations for that glorious (or very grim) day. It is going to happen, like it or not. And every second of your remaining time is in the very palm of God’s hand.

“Lord, Make me to know mine end, and the measure of my days, what it is; That I may know how frail I am. Behold, thou hast made my days as an handbreadth; And mine age is as nothing before thee: Verily every man at his best state is altogether vanity. Selah” (Psalm 39:4–5).

NOW PAUL WAS CERTAINLY PREPARED

We can see in this passage how thoroughly prepared Paul was. This was because his confidence was in the living Christ who made sure that Paul’s only option was between life and Christ, on the one hand, and Christ and life, on the other.

Now the only possible preparation that generates this kind of confidence is a basic, profound, evangelical faith in the resurrection of Christ (Rom. 6:4), and in the justification that rests upon that resurrection (Rom. 4:25). This is the only way that a sinner—like you and like me—could possibly come to the day of his final reckoning, the day when he will take his last step in this world, and be able to step across the threshold to the next world with no condemnation written on his forehead (Rom. 8:1).

This message of justification by faith alone was the lifeblood of Paul’s preaching ministry—you can see it throughout his writings. It is the distinctive Pauline touch.

“The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord” (1 Corinthians 15:56–58).

Only the grace of an imputed righteousness, a righteousness alien to us, can possibly deal with the stain that we dare not carry into the next world.

LIFE, NOT SURVIVAL

We are not Darwinists; survival is not our highest value. Christ is our highest value. Christ is Lord. We love the Lord, crucified and risen, and He is a God who reciprocates. “Precious in the sight of the Lord Is the death of his saints” (Psalm 116:15).

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INTRODUCTION

Scripture teaches us that envy is an insidious sin. It is a destructive and soul-rotting force, and has the ability to go anywhere. It is found with the lowly and among the mighty. Envy lurks in slums and struts in kings’ palaces. We need to be far more wary of this sin than we usually are.

THE TEXT

“But I would ye should understand, brethren, that the things which happened unto me have fallen out rather unto the furtherance of the gospel; So that my bonds in Christ are manifest in all the palace, and in all other places; And many of the brethren in the Lord, waxing confident by my bonds, are much more bold to speak the word without fear. Some indeed preach Christ even of envy and strife; and some also of good will: The one preach Christ of contention, not sincerely, supposing to add affliction to my bonds: But the other of love, knowing that I am set for the defence of the gospel. What then? notwithstanding, every way, whether in pretence, or in truth, Christ is preached; and I therein do rejoice, yea, and will rejoice” (Philippians 1:12–18).

SUMMARY OF THE TEXT

Paul has noted that he was imprisoned (v. 7), and he rejoiced in the fact that the Philippians were partakers together with him in his suffering. But he then goes on to note another advantage that had fallen out from his imprisonment. Because he was locked up, the gospel was advanced (v. 12). In other words, they locked up the preacher, and the sermon was set loose. The fact that he was chained was known throughout the whole praetorium, as well as elsewhere (v. 13). The praetorium comes from the word praetor, which means magistrate or leader. You could have a praetorium in places other than Rome (e.g. Pilate had one—Mark 15:16), but this usage, together with the reference to the Christians who were part of Caesar’s household (Phil. 4:22), indicates that Paul was imprisoned in Rome. Because Paul’s imprisonment had made a splash, this was an encouragement to others to take up the task of preaching without fear (v. 14). Paul did acknowledge that some were doing this out of envy and strife, wanting to make things a bit hotter for Paul (v. 15)—but others were doing this from good motives. The envious ones were not sincere, but were trying to make things worse for Paul (v. 16). The word for contention here should be understood as selfish ambition. Paul’s arrest had opened up a lane for them, you see. And if he stayed in prison, the lane would stay open. The true brothers were trying to do the same thing Paul was seeking to do, which was to promote the gospel (v. 17). Remember that the men guilty of this were probably not low-level flunkies. But so long as the message was not tampered with, Paul didn’t mind. As long as Christ was preached, he was not only content, but also in a state of joy over it (v. 18).

A RECAP ON ENVY

Envy is more than mere jealousy or covetousness. It wants more than simply to have what the other has—it wants the other to lose it. Envy is therefore bone rot (Prov. 14:30). There can be a real temptation to envy sinners their “carefree” ways, but don’t do it (Prov. 23:17). Envy is a powerful sin, and who can stand before it (Prov.27:4)? The patriarchs betrayed Joseph out of envy (Acts 7:9). The opposition to the apostles in Acts was envy-driven (Acts 13:45; Acts 17:5). Malice and envy are a true spiritual cancer.

The religious leaders of God’s covenant people were wracked with envy, which is what drove them to reject their Messiah and crucify him. Pilate knew how court politics worked, and he could smell their envy (Matt. 27: 18; Mark 15:10).

It is at least possible that Judas was driven by envy as well. We are not told this explicitly, so hold it loosely. But the incident at the house of Simon the leper in Bethany is what apparently moved Judas to the point of his treachery (Mark 14:10). And Judas was the son of a certain Simon (John 6:71; John 13:26), so he may have been from Bethany, and would have known Mary, and Martha, and Lazarus who lived there (John 11:1). The word for murmured refers to a deep emotion, not just a mild complaint (Mark14:5), and Judas was the spokesman for the angry disciples (John 12:4). I think Judas thought he was the smartest one in the room and was going to force the Lord’s hand. He had seen Jesus walk on water. He had seen Lazarus raised. He had seen the multitudes fed. He knew that if he arranged a checkmate for the Lord, the Lord would be forced to use His power to (finally) do the right thing. When that plan backfired on him spectacularly, he committed suicide over it (Matt. 27:5). The fact that Jesus really loved Mary, Martha and Lazarus didn’t help (John 11:5). And then there was the fact that Judas had asked Mary out once, and she had turned him down flat. Okay, that one’s not in the text.

HOW GOD CRUCIFIED ENVY

God used the crucifixion of Christ as His instrument for breaking their central tool. When we preach the cross, we don’t just draw the symbol of a cross. So as we utilize the symbol, placing it on steeples and such, we are pointing to something else. And what we are pointing to is the story. When we preach the gospel, we are telling the story of what happened when the Lord was crucified. We don’t just give the ‘theological’ meaning of it, although that is crucial. We tell the story. And that means that, until the end of the world, the central story of all history will be told, and in that story, the central villain is envy. And so consequently, the death of Christ was the death of envy.

And when striving, envious preachers preach, they are cutting their own throats, just as the devil did when he stirred up the mobs to call for the Lord’s blood (1 Cor. 2:8).

SO REJOICE WHEN THEY TRY THIS KIND OF THING

So back to Paul. He is in chains in Rome, and there are professing Christians, preachers, who are trying to augment his trials for the sake of their own ambition. The incongruity does not make Paul cynical. He laughs, he rejoices, and he will continue to rejoice.

The God who in His sovereignty brought so many threads together in the crucifixion of His Son, upending the devil’s kingdom by it, is certainly able to upend all the envious and teeny efforts to supplant God’s appointed representatives. Should we worry about it? Not a bit of it. The elect are all already secured. Christ already died for them, and nothing can be done to unwind that.

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