Lesson for April 26, 2020
The Book of Philippians
Chapter 4:8-13
“Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything is worthy of praise, dwell on these things. The things you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you. But I rejoiced in the Lord greatly, that now at last you have revived your concern for me; indeed, you were concerned before, but you lacked opportunity. Not that I speak from want, for I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am. I know how to get along with humble means, and I also know how to live in prosperity; in any and every circumstance I have learned the secret of being filled and going hungry, both of having abundance and suffering need. I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.
Divine Viewpoint Thinking is the theme of these verses. As believers in Jesus Christ, these are the things we should be thinking. The first of these things is whatever is true. The Greek word for true is “alethes,” which means what is displayed or obvious. What is displayed or obvious for believers to think about (dwell on) is Bible doctrine. Truth refers to the doctrines, the principles, the policies of God in the Word of God. When a believer with positive volition begins to study and apply the Word of God, their thinking slowly begins to change from Human Viewpoint Thinking to Divine Viewpoint Thinking. This new way of thinking begins to change a believer’s norms and standards to align with God’s and increases their capacity to receive divine blessings.
The second thing to think about is whatever is honorable. The Greek word for honorable is “semnos” meaning honest, noble or worthy of respect. The truth of Bible doctrine in the soul of a believer is the honest, noble thing to think about and God and His Word are worthy of our respect. We are Royal Family of God and God expects us to live our lives on earth as His representatives as royalty. As believers in Christ, we are to live on a higher plane than unbelievers and believers in a state of reversionism. We are commanded many times throughout Scripture to separate ourselves from the thinking of the world system of Satan and those who follow him. (II Corinthians 6:14-18; Ephesians 5:6-14)
The third thing to think about is whatever is right. The Greek word for right is “dikaios, “which means righteous, equitable, fair or just. It is righteousness in the sense of the fulfilment of the divine statutes or the righteousness which God requires of believers. Divine Viewpoint Thinking includes the sense of justice, the sense of fair play and the sense of right treatment toward all. It is the responsibility of all believers to live out what is already inside them, which is the righteousness of God. This is called practical righteousness or experiential sanctification. This can be accomplished only with the two power options of the Christian life, which are the filling of the Holy Spirit and Bible doctrine in the soul.
The fourth thing to think about is whatever is pure. The Greek word for pure is “hagnos,” which means not contaminated or undefiled. It is talking about capacity for life as a result of controlling your sin nature, avoiding Human Viewpoint Thinking, rejecting false satanic doctrine and evil which defile us. Contamination from Satan’s world system will hinder a believer from advancing in his spiritual life. Purity of thought means a believer has enough Bible doctrine in their soul to keep the impure influences of Satan’s world system from entering their soul and ruining their spiritual lives.
The fifth thing to think about is whatever is lovely. The Greek word for lovely is “prosphiles, [pros –toward; phileo – to love) which literally means to love toward or pleasing and agreeable. This word is plural and refers to all areas of love. For a believer it means personal love toward God and impersonal love toward all mankind. So, Paul was saying concentrate on the things that you love – God, self and others. The greatest commandment in the Bible is to love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul and mind and the second greatest is to love your neighbour as yourself. (Deuteronomy 6:4-7; Matthew 22:34-39)
The sixth thing to think about is whatever is of good repute. The Greek word for good repute is “euphemos,” which means commendable. For an advancing believer those things that are commendable are those things that become a part of his spiritual life. They include but are not limited to our 40 spiritual assets, our Portfolio of Invisible Assets, the Ten Problem-Solving Devices, the Protocol Plan of God and the Divine Dynasphere.
The seventh thing to think about is if there is any excellence. “If” is s a first class condition which means “if and it’s true.” The Greek word for excellence is “arete,” which means virtue. Virtue is moral excellence and much more. Virtue is the quality of divine good; it is not proving one’s worth by human merit. Attempting to prove one’s worth to God is arrogance; improving one’s worth spiritually through the study and application of Bible doctrine is wisdom. Therefore, arrogance is the opposite of humility and humility is the beginning of virtue. Virtue is developed from learning and applying accurate Bible doctrine, which results in occupation with Christ, while arrogance is manufactured by living in Satan’s world system resulting in preoccupation with self. Virtue is the quality of divine good and the Christian Way of Life developed only inside the Divine Dynasphere.
The eighth thing to think about is if anything worthy of praise. Once again, “if” is s a first class condition which means “if and it’s true.” The Greek word for praise is “epainos,” which means approval, recognition or praiseworthy. God and His Word are praiseworthy. Our Savior Jesus Christ is praiseworthy. Praiseworthy means something is worthy of our approval or our recognition. For an advancing believer, God the only Person Who deserves our praise and respect for His glory.
The things you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you. The things are the doctrines, concepts, principles and policies of God found only in the Word of God. The Greek word for learned is “manthano,” which means to learn and understand from someone as a teacher. In this case, Paul is referring to the believers in Philippi who had advanced to spiritual maturity and beyond and encouraging them to continue to apply these things in their lives.
The Greek word for received is “paralambano” [para = beside; lambanw = to receive], which means to take or receive to one’s side, to take or to receive to one’s self and implies agreement, approval, and therefore acceptance. “Paralambano” means accepting or believing what has been taught. This means the doctrine taught by Paul had become “epignosis” or full spiritual knowledge. Therefore knowing doctrine academically is not enough. You must understand and believe accurate doctrine in order to apply doctrine.
The Greek word for heard is “akouo,” which means to hear and concentrate, to hear and accept the what is heard as truth. This is the true function of the local church. It refers to every time the believer assembles in the local church and listens to the pastor teach Bible doctrine. All spiritual growth from learning accurate Bible doctrine demands respect for God’s authority and the authority of the one communicating doctrine. Concentration on what is being taught by using good manners and respect for everyone in the congregation is essential for the local church.
The Greek word for seen is “horao,” which means a panoramic view. This means not only to see, but to have mental perceptive. For a believer it means to the ability to understand and apply the whole realm of Bible doctrine. Bible doctrine when taught in a systematic way brings all the doctrines of the Word of God into focus. Any advancing believer when filled with the Holy Spirit has the ability to see the panoramic view of the plan of God. And these believers in Philippi had the perfect example in the Apostle Paul, so he encouraged them to follow his lead to the objective of ultra-super-grace.
Practice these things means to execute, to apply or to put it into action. Doctrine must first be resident in the soul to execute or put into action the grace plan of God. Practice means to be “a doer of the Word and not a hearer only.” (James 1:22) And the God of peace will be with you means the God of spiritual prosperity will be with you to help and guide you to the various stages of spiritual adulthood. The Greek word for peace is “eirene,” which means means wholeness, prosperity or made perfect. For the advancing believer God is the source of prosperity: spiritual or temporal.
But I rejoiced in the Lord greatly, that now at last you have revived your concern for me; indeed, you were concerned before, but you lacked opportunity. No church ever brought Paul more happiness. So great was their concern for Paul that they sent their pastor, Epaphroditus, with an offering for Paul. As the apostle who founded the Philippians church, Paul was the original pastor of that congregation. The present pastor was Epaphroditus. At this point they had again become very interested in the apostle and had revived their thinking concerning him. This revived thinking had come in the form of an offering. The Philippian congregation was constantly remembering Paul and appreciating the doctrine they had learned under his ministry. They were concerned because they knew of Paul’s imprisonment and assumed that he needed funds. Up until this point apparently there was not an opportunity to send anything to Paul and express their love until the imprisonment of the apostle.
Not that I speak from want, for I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am. Paul’s spiritual growth to super-grace had taught him to have gratitude. A part of gratitude is being content with what you have. God warns against a lustful attitude and encourages us to be satisfied with what He has already provided. His promise to all believers is that He will never leave us nor forsake us. God knows even before it happens what each of us will face in life, and He has made every provision for us. Our responsibility is to exercise our faith by always giving thanks regardless of circumstances, knowing that God is working things out to benefit us. (Philippians 4:11; Ephesians 5:20; Romans 8:28; Hebrews 13:5)
Is our primary goal in life to acquire material possessions? If so, it may come at the expense of our spiritual life. God’s Word says, “What shall it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses his own soul”? We know that as believers in Jesus Christ we can’t lose our soul. However, we can lose our victory in the Christian Way of Life by wrong priorities. “Seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things will be added unto you.” What is it that we have that we have not received from God? We came into this world with nothing material and we will depart with nothing material. The real gain in life is to know Jesus Christ and to glorify Him as His ambassadors. (Matthew 6:24-34, 16:26; Hebrews 13:5, I Timothy 6:6-7)
What Paul was saying is that circumstances are never an issue to the spiritually mature believer. The spiritually mature believer is never a slave to his circumstances. The spiritually mature believer has perfect happiness and occupation with Christ is all circumstances of life. The resources from God provide freedom and independence from circumstances. The Greek word for content is “autarkes,” which means self-sustaining or self-sufficient strength. So, it is a way of saying we are to have independence and freedom from the effects of negative circumstances of life.
I know how to get along with humble means, and I also know how to live in prosperity; in any and every circumstance I have learned the secret of being filled and going hungry, both of having abundance and suffering need. Humble means is a state in which the Apostle Paul and his missionary team often experienced. Sometimes the suffering was due to divine discipline but most often it was undeserved suffering from those who wanted to kill Paul. II Corinthians 11:23-28 describes the life of Paul as a missionary and he had learned how to get by with very little and still share the happiness of God. Paul also had times of prosperity through the generous offerings and support of the various churches, like Philippi. And even though he had support, he remained grateful and humble while sharing the happiness of God. In both cases, adversity and prosperity, Paul had learned the secret to happiness.
I can do all things through Him who strengthens me. The supernatural power of the Holy Spirit is taught in John 14:26; 16:12-14; 1 Corinthians 2:9-16; 1 John 2:27. It is only through the power of the Holy Spirit that we have the ability to execute the Christian Way of Life. So was the case with the Apostle Paul. Through the Bible doctrine resident in his soul, Paul learned to share the happiness of God in every circumstance of life. The Holy Spirit uses what we chose to put into our soul to empower and guide us to super-grace and beyond.