Phili 1:22 | KingComments | STEP | . In Paul said that he wanted the Philippians to know something. Now he says what he himself knows. To know something means to have knowledge of it. In the meantime you have already understood that the knowledge of certain things about God is not meant as food for your intellect. All what you know about God and all that He gives you as knowledge is given to you that it might work something in your life. That does not only refer to the knowledge that you acquire through Bible study. It also is related to the experiences which you obtain in your faith life. Paul refers to the latter. He knew that all that happened to him, and about which he speaks in the previous verses, was used by God to achieve the one purpose, namely “deliverance” or salvation. The salvation here of course is not the salvation through faith ( ). He was already in possession of it. He lived consciously of the fact that all things were in the hand of God. Therefore he was sure that he would overcome all the circumstances, safe and unharmed. Yes, to a certain extent the tide of circumstances had already carried him toward the goal, and he is sure of reaching it. He saw that God used circumstances as means of transport to bring him to the place where He wanted him to be. Paul saw all what happened to him not only in relation to here and now, and that is very valuable, but he saw everything from the perspective of the future. All the events in his life did not happen by chance but they were contributions to a final result. Is it not a great encouragement for you too to look at all what happens in your life from this perspective? Paul not only rests in the idea that everything is in the hand of God, but he also knows that he is upheld through the “prayers” of the Philippians. God uses the prayers of His people to accomplish His goal. This is a great encouragement for you and me to pray much for others. We find a beautiful example in the book of Acts of the power of prayer ( ). The means of God’s provision for His own is never exhausted. Paul knows that the Lord is sovereign over circumstances when others pray for him. In addition he has the inner “provision [or: sustaining] of the Spirit”. Every believer receives the Holy Spirit at his conversion and He dwells in him ( ). He is the Spirit of sonship through Whom the believer knows the Father, and he calls Him “Abba! Father!” ( ; ), and he lives through the Spirit; he walks in the Spirit, and he is led by the Spirit and he brings forth fruit through the Spirit ( ). But here Paul calls Him “the Spirit of Jesus Christ”. This is not an accidental remark. By so calling the Spirit, Paul relates the circumstances in his life to the earthly life of the Lord Jesus Christ. Then he also relates his life to the place where the Lord now is. “Jesus” is the name of the Lord in his humiliation. “Christ” is the name of the Lord in His exaltation. The Lord’s earthly circumstances were much more difficult than those of Paul. But the Lord did everything in the power of the Holy Spirit ( ). The Lord Jesus is no more on earth but is in heaven in His glory. His glorification is proof of His victory over satan, sin and death. That is the reason why Paul was not dejected. He lived through this victory. The full result of this victory will become visible at the salvation in the end. Paul was looking forward to see it. . Paul was not dejected which is evident from the fact that he sought with a great desire to magnify Christ in his body. Christ is being magnified when He is brought closer to people. You can compare this to how a star is brought closer by means of a telescope. The star does not change its size. The significance is not the telescope. If you only look at the telescope and not through it you see nothing of the star. Even so Paul wants to decrease (even as we must decrease), that more is seen of Christ. You see something similar in John the baptist ( ). The “expectation and hope” Paul is full of, has two sides. On the one hand he did not want to recant any single aspect of what he always preached and translated into action in his life. His incarceration was not a punishment from God for a false preaching or for a perverted life. On the contrary, and that is the other side, he wanted to see to it that, now also while in imprisonment, there existed no limitation to magnify Christ “with all boldness” in his body. The means to bring Christ closer to people is our body. We share with others what we are through our body, and indeed through our speech and actions. If we consider ourselves important, we so speak and act that attention is drawn toward us. If we see Christ as important we so speak and act, that He is seen. Paul adds something more. He wants to magnify Christ “whether by life or by death”. That is not boasting. He wanted just one thing: the glorification of Christ. That is what his life was about and that is what it will be about if he had to die. If you consider your life and death from this perspective, what a rich life you must have then! John the baptist was approximately thirty years old, when he was beheaded for his faithful testimony. Jim Elliot was not even thirty when he was killed along with four other young men by the Auca Indians when he wanted to reach them with the gospel. As a twenty-one year old student he wrote in his diary: ‘God, I pray Thee, light these idle sticks of my life and may I burn for Thee. Consume my life, my God, for it is Thine. I seek not a long life, but a full one, like you, Lord Jesus.’ . I wish that you and I have such a desire in life. Such a desire is fulfilled in the life of people who desire to say like Paul, because they imitate him: “For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.” This is said by a man who could no longer serve his Lord publicly for a few years. That must have been a great ordeal for him. But the Lord Himself took the place of the work. For Paul life was not his ministry but Christ. For him life consisted only of Christ. Christ was the substance of his life, and the hallmark of his life. That is why for him to die is gain; for then he would be with Christ. In 2 Corinthians 12 he writes how he had a foretaste of it ( ). . If Paul had to make a choice between life and death it would be difficult for him to choose. He sees two possibilities, not in the light of what it would cost but in the light of the advantages. The deciding factor in the choice was the well-being of the church. He came to this good decision because he lost sight of himself and his own interests, but exactly like Christ he only thought of the needs of the church. It was clear to him that it meant difficulties if he remained alive. However he gladly took these difficulties because life offered opportunities to magnify Christ in his body, to bring forth fruit in his ministry for Him. It poses the question to you as to if it is worth the trouble to remain alive. Do you live for hobbies or for your favorite sport or for your strong challenging profession etcetera or only for Christ? . Paul was thrown back and forth in weighing both possibilities. Both possibilities had something attractive, and both pressed him and fought for precedence. It was a great desire “to depart and be with Christ”. The word depart literally means release. This is a word which is used for the loosing of the ropes of a ship that it can depart. We hear Paul calling out: ‘Loosen the ropes that bind me to the earth; then I can be free and be with Him after Whom my heart yearns.’ If he thinks about it that way he says: It is far better to die. Nor is there anything beyond that. It is paradise ( ), where fellowship with Christ is enjoyed fully and undisturbed. Have you ever heard about the so called soul sleep or if you would hear about it, this verse makes clear that it is not true at all. Soul sleep means that a believer after his death remains in an unconscious state. But being with Christ denotes a full and conscious fellowship with Christ. Any idea of soul sleep is excluded here ( ). . Paul says what he prefers, but his choice is that he wants “to remain on in the flesh”. That of course means that he wants to live in his body – that is to remain alive. In weighing his options he gave greater weight to the necessity of service to others. You see the true servant in Paul. He thinks on what is necessary and useful for others and does not give priority to his own desire. This is something that you and I certainly can learn from him. Now read Philippians 1:19-24 again. Reflection: What would guide you when you stand before certain choices?

‏ Philippians 1:22

Magnify Christ in Your Body

Phil 1:19. In Phil 1:12 Paul said that he wanted the Philippians to know something. Now he says what he himself knows. To know something means to have knowledge of it. In the meantime you have already understood that the knowledge of certain things about God is not meant as food for your intellect. All what you know about God and all that He gives you as knowledge is given to you that it might work something in your life. That does not only refer to the knowledge that you acquire through Bible study. It also is related to the experiences which you obtain in your faith life. Paul refers to the latter. He knew that all that happened to him, and about which he speaks in the previous verses, was used by God to achieve the one purpose, namely “deliverance” or salvation.

The salvation here of course is not the salvation through faith (Eph 2:8). He was already in possession of it. He lived consciously of the fact that all things were in the hand of God. Therefore he was sure that he would overcome all the circumstances, safe and unharmed.

Yes, to a certain extent the tide of circumstances had already carried him toward the goal, and he is sure of reaching it. He saw that God used circumstances as means of transport to bring him to the place where He wanted him to be. Paul saw all what happened to him not only in relation to here and now, and that is very valuable, but he saw everything from the perspective of the future. All the events in his life did not happen by chance but they were contributions to a final result. Is it not a great encouragement for you too to look at all what happens in your life from this perspective?

Paul not only rests in the idea that everything is in the hand of God, but he also knows that he is upheld through the “prayers” of the Philippians. God uses the prayers of His people to accomplish His goal. This is a great encouragement for you and me to pray much for others. We find a beautiful example in the book of Acts of the power of prayer (Acts 12:5-17). The means of God’s provision for His own is never exhausted. Paul knows that the Lord is sovereign over circumstances when others pray for him. In addition he has the inner “provision [or: sustaining] of the Spirit”.

Every believer receives the Holy Spirit at his conversion and He dwells in him (Eph 1:13). He is the Spirit of sonship through Whom the believer knows the Father, and he calls Him “Abba! Father!” (Rom 8:15; Gal 4:6), and he lives through the Spirit; he walks in the Spirit, and he is led by the Spirit and he brings forth fruit through the Spirit (Gal 5:16 ; 18 ; 22 ; 25). But here Paul calls Him “the Spirit of Jesus Christ”. This is not an accidental remark. By so calling the Spirit, Paul relates the circumstances in his life to the earthly life of the Lord Jesus Christ. Then he also relates his life to the place where the Lord now is. “Jesus” is the name of the Lord in his humiliation. “Christ” is the name of the Lord in His exaltation.

The Lord’s earthly circumstances were much more difficult than those of Paul. But the Lord did everything in the power of the Holy Spirit (Acts 10:38). The Lord Jesus is no more on earth but is in heaven in His glory. His glorification is proof of His victory over satan, sin and death. That is the reason why Paul was not dejected. He lived through this victory. The full result of this victory will become visible at the salvation in the end. Paul was looking forward to see it.

Phil 1:20. Paul was not dejected which is evident from the fact that he sought with a great desire to magnify Christ in his body. Christ is being magnified when He is brought closer to people. You can compare this to how a star is brought closer by means of a telescope. The star does not change its size. The significance is not the telescope. If you only look at the telescope and not through it you see nothing of the star. Even so Paul wants to decrease (even as we must decrease), that more is seen of Christ. You see something similar in John the baptist (Jn 3:30).

The “expectation and hope” Paul is full of, has two sides. On the one hand he did not want to recant any single aspect of what he always preached and translated into action in his life. His incarceration was not a punishment from God for a false preaching or for a perverted life. On the contrary, and that is the other side, he wanted to see to it that, now also while in imprisonment, there existed no limitation to magnify Christ “with all boldness” in his body.

The means to bring Christ closer to people is our body. We share with others what we are through our body, and indeed through our speech and actions. If we consider ourselves important, we so speak and act that attention is drawn toward us. If we see Christ as important we so speak and act, that He is seen.

Paul adds something more. He wants to magnify Christ “whether by life or by death”. That is not boasting. He wanted just one thing: the glorification of Christ. That is what his life was about and that is what it will be about if he had to die. If you consider your life and death from this perspective, what a rich life you must have then!

John the baptist was approximately thirty years old, when he was beheaded for his faithful testimony. Jim Elliot was not even thirty when he was killed along with four other young men by the Auca Indians when he wanted to reach them with the gospel. As a twenty-one year old student he wrote in his diary: ‘God, I pray Thee, light these idle sticks of my life and may I burn for Thee. Consume my life, my God, for it is Thine. I seek not a long life, but a full one, like you, Lord Jesus.’

Phil 1:21. I wish that you and I have such a desire in life. Such a desire is fulfilled in the life of people who desire to say like Paul, because they imitate him: “For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.” This is said by a man who could no longer serve his Lord publicly for a few years. That must have been a great ordeal for him. But the Lord Himself took the place of the work. For Paul life was not his ministry but Christ. For him life consisted only of Christ. Christ was the substance of his life, and the hallmark of his life. That is why for him to die is gain; for then he would be with Christ. In 2 Corinthians 12 he writes how he had a foretaste of it (2Cor 12:2-4).

Phil 1:22. If Paul had to make a choice between life and death it would be difficult for him to choose. He sees two possibilities, not in the light of what it would cost but in the light of the advantages. The deciding factor in the choice was the well-being of the church. He came to this good decision because he lost sight of himself and his own interests, but exactly like Christ he only thought of the needs of the church.

It was clear to him that it meant difficulties if he remained alive. However he gladly took these difficulties because life offered opportunities to magnify Christ in his body, to bring forth fruit in his ministry for Him. It poses the question to you as to if it is worth the trouble to remain alive. Do you live for hobbies or for your favorite sport or for your strong challenging profession etcetera or only for Christ?

Phil 1:23. Paul was thrown back and forth in weighing both possibilities. Both possibilities had something attractive, and both pressed him and fought for precedence. It was a great desire “to depart and be with Christ”. The word depart literally means release. This is a word which is used for the loosing of the ropes of a ship that it can depart. We hear Paul calling out: ‘Loosen the ropes that bind me to the earth; then I can be free and be with Him after Whom my heart yearns.’ If he thinks about it that way he says: It is far better to die. Nor is there anything beyond that. It is paradise (Lk 23:43), where fellowship with Christ is enjoyed fully and undisturbed.

Have you ever heard about the so called soul sleep or if you would hear about it, this verse makes clear that it is not true at all. Soul sleep means that a believer after his death remains in an unconscious state. But being with Christ denotes a full and conscious fellowship with Christ. Any idea of soul sleep is excluded here (Rev 6:9-10).

Phil 1:24. Paul says what he prefers, but his choice is that he wants “to remain on in the flesh”. That of course means that he wants to live in his body – that is to remain alive. In weighing his options he gave greater weight to the necessity of service to others.

You see the true servant in Paul. He thinks on what is necessary and useful for others and does not give priority to his own desire. This is something that you and I certainly can learn from him.

Now read Philippians 1:19-24 again.

Reflection: What would guide you when you stand before certain choices?