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Philippians 4

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Review

Written around 59-62 AD by Paul to church at Philippi
Written during imprisonment (along with Ephesians, Colossians, Philemon)

Chapter 1:

Reminder of fellowship
Proclamation of Christ advanced

due to imprisonment

Live a life worthy of the Gospel

Chapter 2:

Live in humility life Christ

Chapter 3:

Pursuit of Christ -

everything else is rubbish

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Reading

Philippians 4:1-9

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Pointing Back to Chapter 3...

Therefore my brothers, beloved and longed for, my joy and crown, in this way stand firm in the Lord, beloved. - Philippians 4:1 (BLB)

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Stand firm in the Lord...because...

Therefore my brothers, beloved and longed for, my joy and crown, in this way stand firm in the Lord, beloved. - Philippians 4:1 (BLB)

...a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself. - Philippians 3:20-21 (ESV)
For many...walk as enemies of the cross of Christ. Their end is destruction... - Philippians 3:18-19 (ESV)
I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. - Philippians 3:14 (ESV)
Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ...that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead. - Philippians 3:8-11 (ESV)

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Let’s look back at chapter 3 to get more insights into the reasons that we should stand firm in the Lord. I’ll start by basically going backwards through the verses:

Philippians 3:20-21 - The Lord in whom we are standing firm will transform our lowly bodies to be like his glorious one. Furthermore, he has power to subject all things to himself.
Philippians 3:18-19 - There is a reminder that there are enemies of the cross of Christ - hence the necessity of standing “firm”. But in contrast to those who walk in the good example (verse 17), those who instead walk as enemies will end up being destroyed.
Philippians 3:14 - The calling we have has a prize or reward at its end.
Philippians 3:8-11 - Knowing Jesus Christ has surpassing worth beyond everything else - everything else is rubbish. And Christ is how we can obtain one thing that is out of reach by all other means - resurrection from the dead.

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Stand firm in the Lord...in this way...

Therefore my brothers, beloved and longed for, my joy and crown, in this way stand firm in the Lord, beloved. - Philippians 4:1 (BLB)

For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ; - Philippians 3:20 (NASB)
Brothers, join in imitating me, and keep your eyes on those who walk according to the example you have in us. - Philippians 3:17 (ESV)
...count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord...not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ...I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Let those of us who are mature think this way, and if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal that also to you. Only let us hold true to what we have attained. - Philippians 3:8-16 (ESV)

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Next, what is the “way” or “manner” in which we should stand firm in the Lord?

Philippians 3:20 - We see we are supposed to be eagerly awaiting (https://biblehub.com/greek/553.htm) our Savior.
Philippians 3:17 - We should join in imitating Christ and the good Christ-like examples that have been given for us. Note that based on https://biblehub.com/greek/4831.htm, it seems like this is more like “join me in imitating Christ, just as you have seen in the example of us imitating Christ”.
Philippians 3:8-16 - Pretty much this entire section describes the way we should stand firm in Christ:

Count everything else as loss
Seek to know Christ more-and-more
Having a righteousness that comes from Christ
Being able to live in the forgiveness that comes through Christ.
Understanding that even though we are not already perfect, we seek that which God desires and has prepared for us.

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How are the believers Paul’s joy?

Therefore my brothers, beloved and longed for, my joy and crown, in this way stand firm in the Lord, beloved. - Philippians 4:1 (BLB)

...always in every prayer of mine for you all making my prayer with joy, because of your partnership in the gospel... - Philippians 1:4-5 (ESV)
complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. - Philippians 2:2 (ESV)

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What does it mean for these believers to be Paul’s crown?

Therefore my brothers, beloved and longed for, my joy and crown, in this way stand firm in the Lord, beloved. - Philippians 4:1 (BLB)

For what is our hope or joy or crown of boasting before our Lord Jesus at his coming? Is it not you? For you are our glory and joy. - 1 Thessalonians 2:19-20 (ESV)
Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it. Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. - 1 Corinthians 9:24-25 (ESV)
I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that day, and not only to me but also to all who have loved his appearing. - 2 Timothy 4:7-8 (ESV)

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Next, let’s look at what is means for these believers to be Paul’s crown. In our modern culture, we may often have connotations of “royalty” with the word “crown”, but that isn’t really what “crown” means here. It insteads means more like a victor’s crown or wreath given in some kind of athletic games (like the Olympics) - https://biblehub.com/greek/4735.htm. In that sense, it is more of a prize or conferring of honor.

We see this kind of idea in some of Paul’s other writings. Paul uses this analogy of running an athletic race resulting in this prize - this crown or wreath - for the Christian life. He also mentions this idea of fellow believers being his crown. So it would seem like these fellow believers are at least some manifestation, evidence, etc. of the crown to be awarded to Christians after their time here on earth.

https://www.desiringgod.org/labs/what-crown-will-christians-receive

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Disagreement in the Church (Philippians 4:2-3)

People:

Euodia
Syntyche
“true companion” - true yokefellow - “Syzyge”
Clement

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Disagreement in the Church (Philippians 4:2-3)

Entreat (parakalo), not command, both Euodia and Syntyche

Same word Paul uses in Philemon to appeal to Philemon to willingly receive runaway slave Onesimus back as a brother

Entreated to have the same mind (agree) in the Lord

Major theme of letter (Philippians 2:2, 2:5, 3:15)

True companion told to get involved and help these women who are coworkers in Christ

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The Book of Life (Philippians 4:3)

The one who conquers will be clothed thus in white garments, and I will never blot his name out of the book of life. I will confess his name before my Father and before his angels. - Revelation 3:5 (ESV)
and all who dwell on earth will worship it, everyone whose name has not been written before the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb who was slain. - Revelation 13:8 (ESV)
The beast that you saw was, and is not, and is about to rise from the bottomless pit and go to destruction. And the dwellers on earth whose names have not been written in the book of life from the foundation of the world will marvel to see the beast, because it was and is not and is to come. - Revelation 17:8 (ESV)
But nothing unclean will ever enter it, nor anyone who does what is detestable or false, but only those who are written in the Lamb's book of life. - Revelation 21:27 (ESV)

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Now...turning to the rest of the references to the “book of life” in the Bible, there are several other important passages in Revelation:

We see that those who conquer in Christ have security in their names not being blotted out of the book of life. This is somewhat “dependent” on things we can learn from examining other verses.
We see those on earth who do not have their names in the book of life will worship the beast.
We see that only those whose names were written in the book of life will be able to enter the city of the new Jerusalem - not those who are unclean or who do anything detestable (see previous slide on deeds and the book of life).

So the whole point of all of this is that you can have immense security in having your name in the book of life. And by Paul calling Euodia and Syntyche as being people whose names are in the book of life means that they are true Christians - their faith will not fail. Therefore, how so important it is to follow through on the urge to help these women reach agreement and view them as real Christians.

https://www.desiringgod.org/labs/why-does-it-matter-that-their-names-are-in-the-book-of-life

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The Book of Life (Philippians 4:3)

And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Then another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged by what was written in the books, according to what they had done. And the sea gave up the dead who were in it, Death and Hades gave up the dead who were in them, and they were judged, each one of them, according to what they had done. Then Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. And if anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire. - Revelation 20:12-15 (ESV)

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Now, even though there is this disagreement of some kind described in verse 2, it is important to note that Paul mentions that these people have their names in the “book of life”. This has some important significance, so I want to visit the other places the “book of life” are discussed to gain a greater understanding.

To start, I want to take a look at what is probably the most comprehensive passage in Revelation describing the “book of life” in relation to judgment and these other “books”. There is a lot of specifics here that I do not claim to understand, but I think there are some important things we can glean from it.

First, notice that some “books” (plural) are opened that are distinct from “another book” (which is the book of life). The dead are judged based on deeds (“according to what they had done”) in the “books” (plural).

Next, notice toward the end that anyone whose name was not written in the “book of life” ends up thrown into the lake of fire. So having one’s name in the book of life here is a way of salvation from being thrown into this lake of fire after judgment.

https://www.desiringgod.org/labs/why-does-it-matter-that-their-names-are-in-the-book-of-life

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Discussion Question (Philippians 4:4)

What reasons are there to rejoice in the Lord always?

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Follow-up questions/deeper breakdown of questions:

What is the difference between:

Rejoicing?
Rejoicing in the Lord?
Rejoicing in the Lord always?

Verse 4 tells us to rejoice in the Lord always (and repeats the notion of rejoicing for emphasis). So I want to spend some time exploring the reasons we have to rejoice in the Lord always. The following are some I picked out from just the book of Philippians (with a few additional references mentioned below):

God will bring the work of salvation to completion (Philippians 1:6).
God can make even selfish-ambition preaching work to His glory (Philippians 1:18, Romans 8:28).
Christ brings salvation (Philippians 1:18-19, 28).
Christ has conquered death such that it is better for us to be with Him (Philippians 1:22-23, 2:9-11, 2:17-18, 3:10).
God will work through the church community (Philippians 1:11, 1:21-26, 2:29-30).
Suffering for Christ has reasons to rejoice (Philippians 1:28-29, Matthew 5:12, Luke 6:23, Romans 5:3-5, James 1:2-4, 1 Peter 1:3-9).
We have encouragement, love, and the Holy Spirit in Christ (Philippians 2:1).
You do not have a meaningless or conflicting purpose in life (Philippians 2:2).
Christ was willing to come for you (Philippians 2:5-8).
God is working in you (Philippians 2:13).
Christ has given you the ability to shine like a light in a dark world (Philippians 2:15).
There are rewards/lasting fruit in Christ (Philippians 2:16, 3:14).
Christ genuinely cares about your interests (Philippians 2:20-21).
God is merciful (Philippians 2:27-28).
It serves as a safeguard for us (Philippians 3:1).
We are the true circumcision (Philippians 3:3).
Knowing Christ, having fellowship with Him, is valuable beyond all else (Philippians 3:8-10).
We get our righteousness from faith in Christ (Philippians 3:9).
Christ has made us His (Philippians 3:12).
We have citizenship in heaven (Philippians 3:20).
Our bodies will be transformed (Philippians 3:21).
Christ has the power to subject all things to Himself (Philippians 3:21).
Our names are in the book of life (Philippians 4:3).
The Lord is near (Philippians 4:5).

Rejoicing in the Lord is important for many reasons (which I probably will not be able to exhaustively list here). We’re told to do everything in the name of the Lord (Colossians 3:17), which would include rejoicing. The problems with rejoicing in other things are that they are not as good and are more temporary. They can disappoint us or disappear. Seeking lasting joy in something that is set up to go away is setting up for something that will disappoint. In fact, we are even told to not root our joy in what might appear like ministry success but instead that our names are written in the book of life of the Lamb (Nevertheless, do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.” - Luke 10:20 ESV). Circumstances may change, but “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever” (Hebrews 13:8 ESV), and we can have confidence that our work in the Lord is not in vain (1 Corinthians 15:58). When we rejoice in the Lord - who is our life (Colossians 3:4) - that helps keep our focus on the right things rather than give other things more power than they should have.

Rejoicing in the Lord always is also important. And some of the big reasons we can do that is God’s immutability and faithfulness. Rejoicing always in the Lord is important because it helps us keep proper recognition of just how much Christ has done for us - we truly do have reason to always rejoice in Him. It is important to not forget that, which can lead to grumbling and complaining (Philippians 2:14) over lesser things. There is no circumstance that should be able to take away our joy in the Lord.

https://www.desiringgod.org/labs/can-anyone-really-rejoice-always

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Discussion Question (Philippians 4:4-9)

These verses mention several things (rejoicing, gentleness, prayer, thinking, practice, etc.).

How do all of these things work together?

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Discussion Question (Philippians 4:6)

How can you pray, supplicate, petition, make requests

to God with thanksgiving?

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Let’s take a look at verse 6 in more detail, as there is at least one more specific thing I want to highlight. Verses 6-7 tell us how to not be anxious and have the peace of God that surpasses all understanding. It specifically tells us to present our requests to God through prayer/supplication/petition...with thanksgiving. That implies that one could do those things without thanksgiving. So I want to try and hone in on what the difference is between doing this with thanksgiving versus without thanksgiving. How can one pray with thanksgiving?

The thing that came to me this week in relation to this topic and the surrounding verses is that you can first have thanksgiving just in being able to approach God in this way. Thanks to Jesus Christ, we as Christians are able to approach the God of the universe who can do all things - which means that any problems or requests we have are certainly within His power and ability to grant. Secondly, because He is a good, gracious, loving, and perfect God, we can have confidence in that however He chooses to respond to those prayers, it will always be in our best interests (even if we do not see/understand how at the moment).

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Reading

Philippians 4:10-23

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Discussion Question (Philippians 4:10-20)

What is the secret to being content?

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We see in the second half of this chapter Paul rejoicing at assistance from the Philippian church, ultimately describing it as “fruit that increases to your credit” (verse 17) and “a fragrant offering, a sacrifice acceptable and pleasing to God” (verse 18).

In the midst of this we see Paul mentioning being content in any situation - be it abundance or need.

Paul partly states this directly, but I think it is worth calling out...what is this “secret” to being content?

Words of interest:

Need (4:11) - hysteresin - https://biblehub.com/greek/5304.htm
Need (4:12) - hystereisthai - https://biblehub.com/greek/5302.htm
Needs (4:16, 19) - chreian - https://biblehub.com/greek/5532.htm
Learned (4:11) - emathon - https://biblehub.com/greek/3129.htm
Learned the secret (4:12) - memyemai - https://biblehub.com/greek/3453.htm
Content (4:11) - autarkes - https://biblehub.com/greek/842.htm - This actually has a bit of a connotation of “self-sufficient”, though the way Paul uses it in the larger contexts turns it on its head toward being God-sufficient, in contrast to how Stoic philosophers of the time may have seen this word.

I think the ultimate “secret” here gets to what Paul mentions in verse 13 - I can do all things through him who strengthens me (ESV). This gets back to something Paul mentioned in chapter 3:

But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith— that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead. Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. - Philippians 3:7-14 (ESV)

Christ has far surpassing value to anything else. Knowing Christ - and ultimately receiving strength from Him - is what enables Paul to have contentment in all circumstances (enabling Paul to do all things) - be that the lowly circumstances or abounding circumstances.

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Contentment

Not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content.

I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound.

In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need.

I can do all things through him who strengthens me. - Philippians 4:11-13 (ESV)

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*Note - word colorations on these slides are not necessarily intended to show similar underlying actual words but rather more related concepts.

I want to emphasize a few more points in these verses:

This contentment applies to every situation/circumstance - “all things”. That includes the following “opposite” kinds of circumstances:

Brought low, hunger, need
Abound, plenty, abundance

We see that learning has been involved - Paul has come to “know” certain things. From the “conclusion” in verse 13, we see this as being “through him” (through Christ). This would seem to imply the importance of knowing Christ from chapter 3 and valuing Him above all else.
The strengthening from Christ enables contentment in “all things” - that means the strengthening is for both the “negative” and “positive” circumstances identified above.

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God Will Supply All Your Needs According to His Riches

And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus. - Philippians 4:19 (ESV)

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Saints of Caesar’s Household

All the saints greet you, especially those of Caesar's household. - Philippians 4:22 (ESV)

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