a face-to-face praying in which every thing is laid out in the open before Him. Its quality surpasses all hu man understanding, and there is about it the strength of an armed guard which is its own guarantee of preservation. In this day of tension and trouble, of frustration and fail ure, when pressure increases to the breaking point, we shall do well to linger with these verses long enough to learn their secret. (1) Its outflow to others (v. 5).— “Let your forbearance be known to all men” (ASV), says the apostle. Matthew Arnold finds in the word translated “forbearance” “a pre eminent feature in the character of Jesus and designates it ‘sweet reason ableness’.” When once the peace of God acts as umpire in the Christian’s heart (Col. 3:15), others will find him of all men most fair-minded and sweetly reasonable. It is a shame when a person charged with the min istry of reconciliation allows an over bearing and unreasonable spirit to cripple his efforts. Before a man can bring peace to others, he must be at peace with himself and within him self. (2) Its wellsprings (w . 5-6). — There are two wellsprings to God’s kind of peace: the sense of His near ness and the practice of prayer. Fear and anxiety are dissipated in the real ization of Christ’s presence. The disciples were frightened in the storm on Galilee because they had not yet realized who was present with them in the boat. They knew Him, but not as He was to be known. Fear, worry, and nervousness are all lost in the awareness that one is present who loves us and whose resources are those of infinite wisdom and power. But this awareness cannot be ours without cultivation on our part. The windows of the soul must be kept open toward God by prayer. “In noth ing be anxious; but in everything by means of prayer and supplication, in an atmosphere of thanksgiving let your requests become known face-to- face with God” (v. 6). Every word in this classic sentence will repay
self. Westcott and Hort indicate by a marginal reading that the word trans lated “yokefellow” is itself a proper name. “He requests Syzygus (lit.— joiner together to help Euodia and Syntyche to make up their differ ences.” (The Expositor’s Greek Tes tament, III, 466.) At least it was a term of address sufficiently under stood by the church at Philippi to as sign the responsibility to some par ticular individual. The women who publish the Tidings are a great host in our churches and need more help from the men than they are getting. Paul encourages the whole church to work together as a unit. “Clement must have been some dis ciple at Philippi, unknown to Church history like the others mentioned here.” But it is an honor to be en rolled with him and with all like him who have striven in the furtherance of the gospel. Their names are in God’s book of life. II. T he P ea . ce of G od and the G od of P eace ( vv . 4-9) Newheart, “It is difficult to find one caption elastic e n o u g h to slip around these next verses and strong enough to hold them together without doing violence to the national inde pendence of some of them. The un derlying flow of thought almost de fies analysis. This difficulty is no ticeable in verse 4 and again be tween verses 7 and 8. Paul has touched upon the joy of those whose names are written in the book of heaven (Luke 10:20), and the occa sion is sufficient to introduce again the familiar theme. “Rejoice in the Lord, always: Again I will say, Keep on rejoicing.” (v. 4). After this in troduction the underlying movement of his thought becomes a little easier to trace. It is the flow of God’s own kind of peace.” 1. The Peace of God (w . 5-7) The peace which Paul describes in the following verses surges through the human heart outward toward our fellow men. It springs from a sense of God’s nearness and the practice of
Made with FlippingBook flipbook maker