Philippians and Philemon - MR Vincent - 1906.pdf

I. 26] I SHALL ABIDE WITH YOU 3
is subjective : Not
' your ground of glorying.'
iv : With
' my ground of glorying in you,' but
?/, not with. (Comp.
i. 9 ; Rom. iii. 7 ; Col. ii. 7.) Christ is the element or sphere in
which the abounding develops. Christ is always needed to control,
no less than to promote, overflow. The abundant glorying
does not take place in the sphere of human ambition, Hke that of
the Jew in his law and his nationality, — the * boasting according
to the flesh' (2 Cor. xi. 18); *in men' (i Cor. iii. 21); 'in
appearance' (2 Cor. v. 12).
iv : The immediate occasion of the glorying would be PauL
The ground of boasting would attach specially to him as the representative
of the cause which was the great matter of glorying.
is a special cause or ground within the sphere designated
by iv X'l.i : Connect with iv iol as
a special instance. The ground of glorying is first, and comprehensively,
in Christ ; then in Paul as representing Christ ; then in
Paul's personal presence again with them. ,in its ordinary
sense, as ii. 12 ; i Cor. xvi. 17, etc. There is a slight emphasis
on the word as contrasted with letters or messages. How far
Paul's confidence in his liberation and future personal intercourse
with the Philippians was justified, it is impossible to determine
without more knowledge concerning the latter portion of his
career.
He now proceeds to give his readers some practical exhorta-
tions. Until he can personally minister to their faith, he must
content himself with writing to them. Their standard of Christian
consistency and efficiency must not be regulated by his personal
presence or absence.
27-30. On/y, under any circumstances, — whether I shall come
to you, as I hope to do, or remain absent, as I may be compelled to
do, — / exhort you to bear yourselves as becomes members of a
Christian community, in your steadfastness, unity, and active exer-
tion on behalf of the gospel, and in your courage in the face ofyour
adversaries ; which will de?nonstrate the hopelessness of their efforts
and their doom to destruction, and will be God^s own evidence to
you of your own salvation. For the privilege conferred zipon you
of suffering for Christ will show that you a?'e one with him, and
partakers of that same grace which has enabled me to contend for
his cause, and of that same conflict tvhich you saw me undergo,
and which you now hear of my still waging in my Roman prison.
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