Continuing
our enquiry into what the Apostle meant by his words
"the gospel which I preach", we take in our
hands the little letter written by Paul to the
Philippians. Although this was one of the last writings
of the Apostle - it was written from his imprisonment in
Rome shortly before his execution, at the end of a long,
full life of ministry and work - we find that he is still
speaking of everything as 'the gospel'. He has not grown
out of the gospel, he has not got beyond the gospel.
Indeed, at the end he is more than ever aware of the
riches of the gospel which are far beyond him.
Here are the references
that he makes in this letter to the gospel.
"I thank my
God... for your fellowship in furtherance of the
gospel..." (Phil. 1:3,5).
"...it is
right for me to be thus minded on behalf of you all,
because I have you in my heart, inasmuch as, both in my
bonds and in the defence and confirmation of the gospel,
ye all are partakers with me of grace" (1:7).
"...the one
[Preach Christ] of love, knowing that I am set for the
defence of the gospel: but the other proclaim Christ of
faction, not sincerely, thinking to raise up affliction
for me in my bonds. What then? only that in every way,
whether in pretence or in truth, Christ is proclaimed;
and therein I rejoice, yea, and will rejoice"
(1:16-18).
"But ye know
the proof of him, that, as a child serveth a father, so
he served with me in furtherance of the gospel"
(2:22).
"Yea, I beseech
thee also, true yokefellow, help these women, for they
laboured with me in the gospel..." (4:3).
"I can do all
things in him that strengtheneth me. Howbeit ye did well,
that ye had fellowship with me in my affliction. And ye
yourselves also know, ye Philippians, that in the
beginning of the gospel, when I departed from Macedonia,
no church had fellowship with me in the matter of giving
and receiving, but ye only..." (4:13-15).
You see there is a good
deal about the gospel in this little letter. I say
'little' letter. This letter is like a beautiful jewel in
the crown of Jesus Christ, or like a beautiful pearl
whose colours are the result of exquisite pain and
suffering. It is something very costly and very precious.
So far as actual chapters and verses are concerned, it is
small. It is one of the smallest of Paul's letters, but
in its intrinsic values and worth it is immense; and as a
real setting forth of what the gospel is, there are few,
if any, things in the New Testament to be compared with
it. What we really come to in this letter is not only a
setting forth of what the gospel is in truth, but an
example of what the gospel is in effect. Look at it
again, dwell upon it with openness of heart, and I think
your verdict will be - it surely should be - 'Well, if
that is the gospel, give me the gospel! If that is the
gospel, it is something worth having!' That surely is the
effect of reading this little letter. It is a wonderful
example of the gospel in expression.
The
Letter of the Joy of Triumph
But as we read it, we
find that it resolves itself into this. It is, perhaps
more than any other letter in the New Testament, the
letter of the joy of triumph. Joy runs right through this
letter. The Apostle is full of joy to overflowing. He
seems to be hardly able to contain himself. In the last
chapter we were speaking of his superlatives in relation
to the great calling of the Church in the gospel. Here
the Apostle is finding it difficult to express himself as
to his joy. I leave you to look at it. Look just at the
first words, his introduction, and see. But it runs right
through to the end. It has been called the letter of
Paul's joy in Christ, but it is the joy of triumph, and
triumph in a threefold direction. The triumph of Christ;
triumph in Paul; and triumph in the Christians at
Philippi. That really sums up the whole letter: the
threefold triumph with its joy and exultant outflowing.
The
Triumph of Christ
First of all, triumph
in Christ and of Christ. It is in this letter that Paul
gives us that matchless unveiling of the great cycle of
redemption - the sublime course taken by the Lord Jesus
in His redemptive work. We see Him, firstly, in the place
of equality with God: equal with God, and all that that
means - all that it means for God to be God. How great
that is! - how full, how high, how majestic, how
glorious! Paul here says that Jesus was there equal with
God. And then, 'counting it not something to be held on
to, to be grasped at, this equality with God, He emptied
Himself'. He emptied Himself of all that, let it go, laid
it aside, gave it up. Just think of what He was going to
have in exchange. These are thoughts almost impossible of
grasping: God, in all His infinite fulness of power and
majesty of might, in His dominion of glory and eternal
fulness, allowing men of His own creation, even the
meanest of them, to spit on Him, to mock and jeer at Him.
He laid it aside; He emptied Himself, and took upon Him
the form of a man, was found in fashion as a man; and not
only that, but still lower in this cycle - the form of a
bond-slave, a bond-slave man. A bond-slave is one who has
no personal rights; he has no franchise, he has no title.
He is not allowed to choose for himself, to go his own
way, and much more. Paul says here that Jesus took the
form of a bond-slave.
And then he goes on to
say that 'He humbled Himself, became obedient unto
death': and not a glorious death at that, not a death
about which people speak in terms of praise and
admiration. 'Yes', says the Apostle, 'death on a cross' -
the most shameful, ignominious death, with all that that
meant. You see, the Jewish world, the religious world, of
that day, had it written in their Book that he that hangs
upon a tree is cursed of God. Jesus was obedient to the
point of being found in the place of one who is cursed of
God. That is how they looked upon Him - as cursed of God.
And as for the rest of the world, the Gentile world,
their whole conception of that which should be worshipped
was one who could never be defeated, one who could never
be found in a situation which should cause him shame, one
who could stand before the world as a success - that was
their idea of a god. But here is this Man on the Cross.
Is He a success? That is no sign of success. That is no
indication of human strength. That is weakness. There is
nothing honourable about that - it is disgraceful. That
is humanity at its lowest.
And then the cycle is
reversed, and the Apostle breaks in here, and says:
"Wherefore also God highly exalted him, and gave
unto him the name which is above every name; that in the
name of Jesus every knee shall bow" - sooner or
later; either gladly to acknowledge Him Lord, or forcedly
to do so; sooner or later, in the determinate counsels of
Almighty God, it shall be; "and every tongue shall
confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of the
Father". What a cycle! What a circle! What a
triumph! You cannot find triumph fuller or greater than
that: and Paul calls that the gospel. It is the good news
of Christ's tremendous triumph. He has triumphed in that
circle, and all that is included in the triumph is the
gospel. We cannot stay to dwell upon it, as to why He did
it, or what He effected by it, what He has secured in it.
All that is the gospel. But the fact is that in that way
Christ has accomplished a tremendous victory. In the
whole circle of Heaven and earth, from the highest height
to the lowest depth, He has triumphed. Paul finds
unspeakable joy in contemplating that. That is what he
calls the good tidings, the gospel - triumph in Christ.
Triumph
in Paul's Own Spiritual History
Paul then comes in
himself, and gives us in this letter quite a bit of
autobiography. He tells us something of his own history
before his conversion, as to who he was and what he was,
and where he was, and what he had. Of course, it was
nothing to be compared with what his Lord had had and had
let go. But Paul himself, as Saul of Tarsus, had a great
deal by birth, by inheritance, by upbringing, by
education, by status, prestige and so on. He had quite a
lot. He tells us about it here. All that men would boast
of - he had it. And then he met Jesus Christ, or Jesus
Christ met him; and the whole thing, he said - all that
he had and possessed - became in his hands like ashes,
like refuse! "I do count them but refuse".
Many people have this
false idea about the gospel, that, if you embrace the
gospel, if you become a Christian, if you are converted,
or however you like to put it, you are going to have to
lose or give up everything, you have to give up this and
you have to give up something else. If you become a
Christian, it will be just one long story of giving up,
giving up, giving up, until sooner or later you are
skinned of everything. Listen! Here is a man who had far
more than you or I ever had. We cannot stand in the same
street with this man in his natural life, in all that he
was and all that he had, and all the prospects that were
before him as a young man. There is very little doubt
that, if Paul had not become a Christian, his name would
have gone down in history amongst some other very famous
names of his time. But he says - not in these words, but
in many more words than these: 'When I met the Lord
Jesus, that whole thing became to me like refuse.' Give
it up? Who will find any sacrifice in giving up a candle
when they have found the sun? Sacrifice in that? Oh, no!
'In comparison with Christ, I just count it the veriest
refuse'.
What a victory! What a
triumph! You see, this giving up - well, put it like
that, if you like - but Paul is very happy about it. That
is the point. It is Paul's joy, the joy of a tremendous
victory in himself.
Triumph
in Paul's Ministry
But further, here it is
the story of the great victory in his ministry, in his
work. We recall the story of how he went to Philippi. He
had set out to go into Asia, to preach the gospel there,
and was on his way, when, in that mysterious providence
of God which only explains itself afterward and never
before, he was forbidden, checked, prevented, stopped.
The day closed with a closed way, a halted journey. He
was in perplexity as to the meaning of this; he did not
understand it. Waiting on God during that night, he had a
vision. He saw a man of Macedonia - Philippi is in
Macedonia - saying: "Come over into Macedonia, and
help us" (Acts 16:9). And Paul said, "We sought
to go forth... concluding that God had called us for to
preach the gospel unto them". So, turning away from
Asia, he turned towards Europe, and came to Philippi.
Sometimes
disappointment and upsetting of plans can be the very
ground of a great victory. God can get a lot by putting
aside our cherished plans, and upsetting everything for
us. - But we continue. Paul came to Philippi. And the
Devil knew that he had come, and got to work and said, in
effect, 'Not if I can prevent it, Paul! I will make this
place too hot for you to stay here!' And he got to work,
and before long Paul with his companions were found in
the inner dungeon of the prison, their feet made fast,
chains upon them, bleeding from the lashing that they had
received. Well, this does not seem to say much for Divine
guidance! Where is the victory in this? But wait. The
very jailor and his household were saved that night. They
came to the Lord and were baptized. And when, years
afterwards, in this other prison in Rome, Paul wrote this
letter to the saints he had left in Philippi, he put in a
phrase like this: "my brethren beloved and longed
for" (Phil. 4:1). I like to think that the jailor
and his family were included in this. "Brethren
beloved and longed for". And in the same letter he
says: "I would have you know, brethren, that the
things which happened unto me have fallen out rather unto
the progress of the gospel" (1:12). It is a picture
of triumph, is it not? - the triumph in his life and in
his ministry.
Triumph
in Paul's Sufferings
And he triumphed in his
sufferings. He says something about his sufferings in
this very letter, the sufferings which were upon him as
he wrote; but it is all in a note and spirit of real
triumph. He says: "As always, so now also Christ
shall be magnified in my body, whether by life, or by
death" (1:20). No tinge of despair about that, is
there? 'Even now, as it has always been, Christ must be
magnified in my body, whether by life or by death.' That
is triumph. Yes, that is triumph, that is joy.
But more: he said,
'Christ manifested in my bonds'. A wonderful thing, this!
Brought to Rome, chained to a Roman guardian soldier,
never allowed more than a certain measure of liberty -
and yet you cannot silence this man! He has got something
that 'will out' all the time, and he says it has gone
throughout the whole Praetorian guard (1:13). If you knew
something about the Praetorian guard, you would say,
'That is triumph!' In the very headquarters of Caesar,
and a Caesar such as he was, the gospel is triumphant. It
is being spoken about throughout the whole Praetorian
guard! Yes, there is triumph in his sufferings, in his
bonds, in his afflictions. This is not just words. It is
a glorious triumph; and this is the gospel in action, the
gospel in expression.
Triumph
in the Philippian Christians
And this triumph was
not only in Christ and in Paul, but in the Philippians.
It is a beautiful letter of the triumph of Divine grace
in these Philippians. You can see it, firstly, in their
response; and you really need to know something about
Philippi in those days. You get just a little idea from
what happened to Paul. You know about the pagan temple
with its terrible system of women slaves, and all that is
bound up with that horrible thing. As Paul and his
companions went through the streets of Philippi, one of
these young women, described as having a spirit of
Python, a soothsaying demon, a veritable possession of
Satan, persistently followed and cried out after them.
That is the sort of
city that Philippi was, and Paul finds it possible to
write a letter of this kind to believers in a city like
that. Is that not triumph? I think that there should ever
be a church in Philippi at all is something, but a church
like this is something more. And it is not only in their
response to the gospel, which cost them so much. Look
again at the letter, and see the mutual love which they
had one for another. This is indeed a jewel in the crown
of Jesus Christ. This letter has been called Paul's great
love letter. The whole thing overflows with love, and it
is because of the love which they had one for another.
Love of this kind is not natural. This is the work of
Divine grace in human hearts. It speaks of a great
triumph. If there is anything to add, we may recall that,
when Paul was in need, it was these people who thought
about his need and sent for his help and his succour.
They are concerned for the man to whom they owed so much
for the gospel.
Well, all that
constitutes this tremendous triumph. It is a letter of
triumph, is it not? We have proved our point, I think. I
repeat: This is the gospel! But Paul says that these
people at Philippi, these believers, are exemplary - they
are an example; and so what we have to do at the end of
this review is to ask: 'Just what is the gospel so far as
this letter is concerned? What is the good news here, the
good tidings? How can this kind of thing be repeated or
reproduced?'
The
Secret of the Triumph
We are not dealing with
people of peculiar virtues, a specially fine type of
person. It is just man, poor, frail humanity: out of that
can such a thing be repeated, reproduced? Can we hope for
anything like this now? It would be good news if it could
be proved to us that there is a way of reproducing this
situation today, would it not? Knowing what we do know,
it would be good tidings if it could be shown to us that
this is not merely something which relates to an isolated
company of people who lived long centuries ago, but that
it can be true today - that this gospel, this good news,
is for us.
How, then? Is there in
this letter a key phrase? We have sought in our studies
in these letters to gather everything into some
characteristic phrase from each. Is there such a phrase
in this letter that gives us the key to it all, the key
to entering ourselves into Christ's great victory and all
the value of it? Can we find the key to open the door for
us into the position that the Apostle occupied - that
everything that this world can offer and that might be
placed at our disposal is tawdry, is petty, is
insignificant, in comparison with Christ? Is there a key
which will open the door for us into what these
Philippians had come into?
I think there is, and I
think you find it in the first chapter, in the first
clause of verse 21: "For to me to live is
Christ". That is the good news of the
all-captivating Christ. When Christ really captivates,
everything happens and anything can happen. That is how
it was with Paul and with these people. Christ had just
captivated them. They had no other thought in life than
Christ. They may have had their businesses, their trades,
their professions, their different walks of life and
occupations in the world, but they had one all-dominating
thought, concern and interest - Christ. Christ rested,
for them, upon everything. There is no other word for it.
He just captivated them.
And I see, dear
friends, that that - simple as it may sound - explains
everything. It explains Paul, it explains this church, it
explains these believers, it explains their mutual love.
It solved all their problems, cleared up all their
difficulties. Oh, this is what we need! If only you and I
were like this, if we really after all were captivated by
Christ! I cannot convey that to you, but as I have looked
at that truth - looked at it, read it, thought about it -
I have felt something moved in me, something
inexplicable. After all, nine-tenths of all our troubles
can be traced to the fact that we have other personal
interests influencing us, governing us and controlling us
- other aspects of life than Christ. If only it could be
true that Christ had captured and captivated and mastered
us, and become - yes, I will use the word - an obsession,
a glorious obsession! I think this is what the writer of
the hymn meant when he wrote: 'Jesus, Lover of my soul',
and when further on he says: 'More than all in Thee I
find'. When it is like that, we are filled with joy.
There are no regrets at having to 'give up' things. We
are filled with joy, filled with victory. There is no
spirit of defeatism at all. It is the joy of a great
triumph. It is the triumph of Christ over the life. Yes,
it has been, and because it has been, it can be again.
But this needs
something more than just a kind of mental appraisement.
We can so easily miss the point. We may admire the words,
the ideas; we may fall to it as a beautiful presentation;
but, oh, we need the captivating to wipe out our
selves - our reputations, everything that is
associated with us and our own glory - that the One who
captivates may be the only One in view, the only One with
a reputation, and we at His feet. This is the gospel, the
good news - that when Christ really captivates, the kind
of thing that is in this letter happens, it really
happens. Shall we ask the Lord for that life captivation
of His beloved Son?